/•   v- 


IBRARY 


THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


THE  INSTITUTE 

FOR  THE  STUDY  OF 

AMERICAN  RELIGION 


;  J 


—All  former  looks  issued  in  Mr.  Moody's  name  have 
*een  mere  compilations,  issued  without  his  consent  and 
notwithstanding  his  protest.  The  following  are  the  only 

AUTHORIZED  PUBLICATIONS   BY 

D.  L.  MOODY. 

SECRET  POWER  or  the  Secret  of  Success  in  Christian 
life  and  Christian  work.  "A  book  of  intense  interest  and 
practical  suggestion."  Cloth,  60  cents ;  paper,  30  cents. 

TWELVE  SELECT  SERMONS,  by  D.  L.  MOODY. 
Carefully  revised,  and  containing  those  gospel  addresses 
most  blessed  in  Kvangelistic  work.  128  pp.,  cloth,  rich  gilt 
stamp,  60  cents;  paper  edition,  30  cents.  Ready  May  i it. 

HEAVEN- JfA*r«  it  is;  It*  Inhabitants  and  ho^v  to 
Get  There,  by  D.  L.  MOODY.  Cloth,  rich  gold  stamp,  112 
pp. ,60  cents;  paper  covers,  30  cents,  aytk  thousand. 

The  clear,  scriptural,  common-sense  treatment  of  this 
subject  by  Mr.  Moody  has  been  commended  in  the  highest 
terms  by  leading  theologians  in  Europe  and  America, 
while  the  common  people  have  heard  them  everywhere 
with  gladness. 

How  to  Study  the  Bible.  By  D.  L.  MOODY.  Revised. 
A  valuable  little  work,  which  should  be  carefully  read  and 
studied  by  all  who  desire  to  enjoy  the  study  of  the  Word. 
Papercover,  10  cents;  per  doz.,<i.oo.  Cloth, flexible,  15 cts. 

The  Way  and  the  Word.  By  D.  L.  MOODY.  Paper 
cover,  15  cents  ;  cloth,  25  cents. 

This  is  a  neat  little  volume,  containing  a  treatise  on  Mr. 
Moody's  favorite  topic,  Regeneration;  together  with  his 
thoughts  on  Bible  study;  the  whole  prefaced  with  a  personal 
introduction  by  Mr.  Moody. 

The  Second  Coming  of  Christ.  By  D.  L.  MOODY.  Re- 
vised from  original  notes.  32  pages  and  cover.  Price,  10 
cents.  Per  dozen,  $1.00. 

Should  be  widely  circulated,  calling  attention  to  this 
important  subject  and  most  precious  truth. 

For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  will  be  sent  post  free  by 
return  Mail  on  receipt  of  price  by  the  publisher. 
F    H.  REVELL,  148  and  150  Madison  St.,  Chicago 


OR, 


THE  SECRET  OF  SUCCESS  IN  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 
AND  CHRISTIAN  WORK.. 


BY  D    L.  MOODY. 
\\ 


'  YE    SHALL     RECEIVE    POWER." 

ACTS  1:  8. 


CHICAGO : 
F.  H.  REVELL,  148  £  150  MADISON  STREET, 

PUBLISHER  OF  EVANGELICAL  LITEBATURE. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  In  the  year  1881,  by 

F.   H.  REVELL. 
in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PREFACE. 


ONE  man  may  have  "zeal  without  knowledge,"  while 
another  may  have  knowledge  without  zeal.  If  I  could 
have  only  the  one,  I  believe  I  should  choose  the  first ; 
but,  with  an  open  Bible,  no  one  need  be  without  knowl- 
edge of  God's  will  and  purpose  ;  and  the  object  of  this 
book  is  to  help  others  to  know  the  source  of  true  power, 
that  both  their  zeal  and  their  knowledge  may  be  of 
increased  service  in  the  Master's  work. 

Paul  says,  "all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
God,  and  is  profitable ;"  but  I  believe  one  portion,  and 
that  the  subject  of  this  book,  has  been  too  much  over- 
looked, as  though  it  were  not  practical,  and  the  result 
is  lack  of  power  in  testimony  and  work.  If  we  would 
work,  "not  as  one  that  beateth  the  air,"  but  to  some 
definite  purpose,  we  must  have  this  power  from  on 
high.  Without  this  power,  our  work  will  be  drudgery. 
With  it,  it  becomes  a  joyful  task,  a  refreshing  service. 

May  God  make  this  book  a  blessing  to  many.      This 

is  my  prayer. 

D.  L.  MOODY. 

NORTHFIELD,  MASS.,  May  1st,  1881. 


CHAPTER  1. 


POWER -ITS  SOURCE 


In  vain  do  the  inhabitants  of  London  go  to  their  conduits  for  sup- 
ply unless  the  man  who  has  the  rnaster-key  turns  the  water  on;  and 
in  vain  do  we  think  to  quench  our  thirst  at  ordinances,  unless  God 
communicates  the  living  water  of  His  Spirit. — Anon. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  Roman  emperors,  at  their  triumphal 
entrance,  to  cast  new  coins  among  the  multitudes;  so  doth  Christ,  in 
His  triumphal  ascension  into  heaven,  throw  the  greatest  gifts  for  the 
good  of  men  that  were  ever  given. — T.  Goodwin. 

To  unconverted  persons,  a  great  part  of  the  Bible  resembles  a  letter 
written  in  cipher.  The  blessed  Spirit's  office  is  to  act  as  God's  deci- 
pherer, by  letting  His  people  into  the  secret  of  celestial  experience, 
as  the  key  and  clew  to  those  sweet  mysteries  of  grace  which  were 
before  as  a  garden  shut  up,  or  as  a  fountain  sealed,  or  as  a  book 
written  in  an  unknown  character. — Toplady. 

The  greatest,  strongest,  mightiest  plea  for  the  Church  of  God  in 
the  world  is  the  existence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  its  midst,  and  the 
works  of  the  Spirit  of  God  are  the  true  evidences  of  Christianity. 
They  say  miracles  are  withdrawn,  but  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  standing 
miracle  of  the  Church  of  God  to-day.*  I  will  not  say  a  word  against 
societies  for  Christian  evidences,  nor  against  those  weighty  and  learned 
brethren  who  have  defended  the  outworks  of  the  Christian  Church. 
They  have  done  good  service,  and  I  wish  them  every  blessing,  but  as 
to  my  own  soul,  I  never  was  settled  in  my  faith  in  Christ  by  Paley's 
Evidences,  nor  by  all  the  evidence  ever  brought  from  history  or  else- 
where; the  Holy  Spirit  has  taken  the  burden  off  my  shoulders,  and 
given  me  peace  and  liberty.  This  to  me  is  evidence,  and  as  to  the 
externals  which  we  can  quote  to  others,  it  was  enough  for  Peter  and 
John  that  the  people  saw  the  lame  man  healed,  and  they  needed  not 
to  speak  for  themselves. — Spurgeon. 


POWER— ITS  SOURCE. 


"Without  the  soul,  divinely  quickened  and  inspired,  the  observ- 
ances of  the  grandest  ritualism  are  as  worthless  as  the  motions  of  a 
galvanized  corpse." — Anon. 

I  QUOTE  this  sentence,  as  it  leads  me  at  once  to  the 
subject  under  consideration.  What  is  this  quickening 
and  inspiration  ?  What  is  this  power  needed  ?  From 
whence  its  source  ?  I  reply  :  The  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 
I  am  a  full  believer  in  "The  Apostles'  Creed,"  and 
therefore  "I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

A  writer  has  pointedly  asked:  ''What  are  our  souls 
without  His  grace  ? — as  dead  as  the  branch  in  which  the 
sap  does  not  circulate.  What  is  the  Church  without 
Him  ? — as  parched  and  barren  as  the  fields  without  the 
dew  and  rain  of  heaven." 

There  has  been  much  inquiry  of  late  on  the  subject  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  In  this  and  other  lands  thousands  of 
persons  have  been  giving  attention  to  the  study  of  this 
grand  theme.  I  hope  it  will  lead  us  all  to  pray  for 
a  greater  manifestation  of  His  power  upon  the  whole 
Church  of  God.  How  much  we  have  dishonored  Him 
in  the  past-!  How  ignorant  of  His  grace,  and  love  and 
presence  we  have  been  ?  True,  we  have  heard  of  Him 
and  read  of  Him,  but  we  have  had  little  intelligent 
knowledge  of  His  attributes,  His  offices  and  His  rela- 
tions to  us.  I  fear  He  has  not  been  to  many  professed 
Christians  an  actual  existence,  nor  is  He  known  to  them 
as  a  personality  of  the  Godhead. 


10  SECRET  POWER. 


The  first  work  of  the  Spirit  is  to  give  life ;  spiritual 
life.  He  gives  it  and  He  sustains  it.  If  there  is  no  life, 
there  can  be  no  power;  as  Job  says:  "A  living  dog  is 
better  than  a  dead  lion."  When  the  Spirit  imparts  this 
life,  He  does  not  leave  us  to  droop  and  die,  but  con- 
stantly fans  the  flame.  He  is  ever  with  us.  Surely  we 
ought  not  to  be  ignorant  of  His  power  and  his  work. 

IDENTITY    AND    PERSONALITY. 

In  John  v,  7,  we  read:  "  There  are  three  that  bear 
record  in  heaven,  the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  these  three  are  one."  By  the  Father  is 
meant  the  first  Person,  Christ,  the  Word  is  the  second, 
and  the  Holy  Spirit,  perfectly  fulfilling  His  own  office 
and  work  in  union  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  is  the 
third.  I  find  clearly  presented  in  my  Bible,  that  the 
One  God  who  demands  my  love,  service  and  worship, 
has  there  revealed  Himself,  and  that  each  of  those 
three  names  of  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost  has'  person- 
ality attached  to  them.  Therefore  we  find  some  things 
ascribed  to  God  as  Father,  some  to  God  as  Saviour,  and 
some  to  God  as  Comforter  and  Teacher.  It  has  been 
remarked  that  the  Father  plans,  the  Son  executes,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  applies.  But  I  also  believe  they  plan 
and  work  together.  The  distinction  of  persons  is  often 
noted  in  Scripture.  In  Matt,  iii,  16-17,  we  find  JESUS 
submitting  to  baptism,  the  SPIRIT  descending  upon  Him, 
while  the  FATHER'S  voice  of  approval  is  heard  saying : 
"This  is  my  Beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased." 
Again  in  John  xiv,  16,  we  read:  "I  (i.  e.  Jesus)  will 
pray  the  Father,  and  He  shall  give  you  another  Com- 


PO  WEE  —  ITS  SO  URGE.  11 

forter."  Also  in  Eph.  i,  18:  "Through  Him  (i.  e. 
Christ  Jesus)  we  both  (Jews  and  Gentiles)  have  access 
by  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father."  Thus  we  are  taught 
the  distinction  of  persons  in  the  Godhead,  and  their 
inseparable  union.  From  these  and  other  scriptures 
also  we  learn  the  identity  and  actual  existence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

If  you  ask  do  I  understand  what  is  thus  revealed  in 
Scripture,  I  say  "no."  But  my  faith  bows  down  before 
the  inspired  Word  and  I  unhesitatingly  believe  the  great 
things  of  God  when  even  reason  is  blinded  and  the 
intellect  confused. 

In  addition  to  the  teaching  of  God's  Word,  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  His  gracious  work  in  the  soul  declares  His  own 
presence.  Through  His  agency  we  are  "born  again," 
and  through  His  indwelling  we  possess  superhuman 
power.  Science,  falsely  so  called,  when  arrayed  against 
the  existence  and  presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  with 
His  people,  only  exposes  its  own  folly  to  the  contempt  of 
those  who  have  become  "new  creatures  in  Christ 
Jesus."  The  Holy  Spirit  who  inspired  prophets,  and 
qualified  apostles,  continues  to  animate,  guide  and  com- 
fort all  true  believers.  To  the  actual  Christian,  the  per- 
sonality of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  more  real  than  any  theory 
science  has  to  offer,  for  so-called  science  is  but  calcula- 
tion based  on  human  observation,  and  is  constantly 
changing  its  inferences.  But  the  existence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  to  the  child  of  God  a  matter  of  Scripture  rev- 
alation  and  of  actual  experience. 

Some  skeptics  assert  that  there  is  no  other  vital  energy 
in  the  world  but  physical  force,  while  contrary  to  their 
assertions,  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  who  can  not 


12  SECRET  POWER. 


possibly  be  deceived  have  been  quickened  into  spiritual 
life  by  a  power  neither  physical  or  mental.  Men  who 
were  dead  in  sins — drunkards  who  lost  their  will,  blas- 
phemers who  lost  their  purity,  libertines  sunk  in  beast- 
liness, infidels  who  published  their  shame  to  the  world, 
have  in  numberless  instances  become  the  subjects  of  the 
Spirits  power,  and  are  now  walking  in  the  true  nobility 
of  Christian  manhood,  separated  by  an  infinite  distance 
from  their  former  life.  Let  others  reject,  if  they  will,  at 
their  own  peril,  this  imperishable  truth.  I  believe,  and 
am  growing  more  into  this  belief,  that  divine,  miracu- 
lous creative  power  resides  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Above 
and  beyond  all  natural  law,  yet  in  harmony  with  it, 
creation,  providence,  the  Divine  government,  and  the 
upbuilding  of  the  Church  of  God  are  presided  over  by 
the  Spirit  of  God.  His  ministration  is  the  ministration 
of  life  more  glorious  than  the  ministration  of  law,  (2 
Cor.  iii,  6-10).  And  like  the  Eternal  Son,  the  Eternal 
Spirit  having  life  in  Himself,  is  working  out  all  things 
after  the  counsel  of  His  own  will,  and  for  the  everlast- 
ing glory  of  the  Triune  Godhead. 

The  Holy  Spirit  has  all  the  qualities  belonging  to  a 
person  ;  the  power  to  understand,  to  will,  to  do,  to  call, 
to  feel,  to  love.  This  can  not  be  said  of  a  mere  influence. 
He  possesses  attributes  and  qualities  which  can  only  be 
ascribed  to  a  person,  as  acts  and  deeds  are  performed  by 
Him  which  can  not  be  performed  by  a  machine,  an  in- 
fluence, or  a  result. 

AGENT    AND    INSTRUMENT. 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  closely  identified  with  the  words  of 
the  Lord  Jesus.  "  It  is  the  Spirit  that  quickened^ ;  the 


POWER  — ITS  SOURCE.  13 

flesh  profiteth  nothing,  the  words  that  I  speak  unto  you, 
they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life."  The  Gospel  proc- 
lamation can  not  be  divorced  from  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Unless  He  attend  the  word  in  power,  vain  will  be  the 
attempt  in  preaching  it.  Human  eloquence  or  persua- 
siveness of  speech  are  the  mere  trappings  of  the  dead,  if 
the  living  Spirit  be  absent ;  the  prophet  may  preach  to 
the  bones  in  the  valley,  but  it  must  be  the  breath  from 
Heaven  which  will  cause  the  slain  to  live. 

In  the  third  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter,  it 
reads,  "For  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for  sins,  the 
just  for  the  unjust,  that  Pie  might  bring  us  to  God,  being 
put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the  Spirit." 

Here  we  see  that  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  grave 
by  this  same  Spirit,  and  the  power  exercised  to  raise 
Christ's  dead  body  must  raise  our  dead  souls  and  quicken 
them.  No  other  power  on  earth  can  quicken  a  dead 
soul,  but  the  same  power  that  raised  the  body  of  Jesus 
Christ  out  of  Joseph's  sepulcher.  And  if  we  want  that 
power  to  quicken  our  friends  who  are  dead  in  sin,  we 
must  look  to  God,  and  not  be  looking  to  man  to  do  it. 
If  we  look  alone  to  ministers,  if  we  look  alone  to  Christ's 
disciples  to  do  this  work,  we  shall  be  disappointed ;  but 
if  we  look  to  the  Spirit  of  God  and  expect  it  to  come 
from  Him  and  Him  alone,  then  we  shall  honor  the  Spirit, 
and  the  Spirit  will  do  His  work. 

SECRET    OF    EFFICIENCY. 

I  can  not  help  but  believe  there  are  many  Christians  who 
want  to  be  more  efficient  in  the  Lord's  service,  and  the 
object  of  this  book  is  tC  take  up  this  subject  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  that  they  may  see  from  whom  to  expect  this  power. 


14  SECRET  POWER. 


In  the  teaching  of  Christ,  we  find  the  last  words  recorded 
in  the  Gospel  ot'Matthew,  the  28th  chapter  and  19th  verse, 
"  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  Here  we  find  that  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
the  Son  are  equal  with  the  Father — are  one  with  Him, 
"teaching  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Christ  was  now  handing 
His  commission  over  to  His  Apostles.  He  was  going  to 
leave  them.  His  work  on  earth  was  finished,  and  He 
was  now  just  about  ready  to  take  His  seat  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  and  He  spoke  unto  them  and  said  :  "All 
power  is  given  unto  Me  in  heaven  and  on  earth."  All 
power,  so  then  He  had  authority.  If  Christ  was  mere 
man,  as  some  people  try  to  make  out,  it  would  have 
been  blasphemy  for  Him  to  have  said  to  the  disciples, 
go  and  baptize  all  nations  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  in  His  own  name,  and  in  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
making  Himself  equal  with  the  Father. 

There  are  three  things  :  All  power  is  given  unto  Me  ; 
go  teach  all  nations.  Teach  them  what?  To  observe 
all  things.  There  are  a  great  many  people  now  tliat  are 
willing  to  observe  what  they  like  about  Christ,  but  the 
things  that  they  don't  like  they  just  dismiss  and  turn  away 
from.  But  His  commission  to  His  disciples  was,  "Go 
teach  all  nations  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you."  And  what  right  has  a  messenger 
who  has  been  sent  of  God  to  change  the  message  ?  If 
I  had  sent  a  servant  to  deliver  a  message,  and  the  serv- 
ant thought  the  message  didn't  sound  exactly  right — a 
little  harsh — and  that  servant  went  and  changed  the 
message,  I  should  change  servants  very  quickly;  he  could 


PO  WER  —  ITS  SO  URGE.  1 5 

not  serve  me  any  longer.  And  when  a  minister  or  a 
messenger  of  Christ  begins  to  change  the  message  be- 
cause he  thinks  it  is  not  exactly  what  it  ought  to  be, 
and  thinks  he  is  wiser  than  God,  God  just  dismisses 
that  man. 

They  haven't  taught  "all  things."  They  have  left 
out  some  of  the  things  that  Christ  has  commanded  us  to 
teach,  because  they  didn't  correspond  with  man's  reason. 
Now  we  have  to  take  the  Word  of  God  just  as  it  is  ;  and  if 
we  are  going  to  take  it,  we  have  no  authority  to  take  out 
just  what  we  Tike,  what  we  think  is  appropriate,  and  let 
dark  reason  be  our  guide. 

It  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit  to  impress  the  heart  and 
seal  the  preached  word.  His  office  is  to  take  of  the 
things  of 'Christ  and  reveal  them  unto  us. 

Some  people  have  got  an  idea  that  this  is  the  only 
dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  that  He  didn't  work 
until  Christ  was  glorified.  But  Simeon  felt  the  Holy 
Ghost  when  he  went  into  the  temple.  In  2d  Peter,  i, 
21,  we  read  :  "Holy  men  of  old  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  "We  find  the  same  Spirit 
in  Genesis  as  is  seen  in  Revelation.  The  same  Spirit  that 
guided  the  hand  that  wrote  Exodus  inspired  also  the 
epistles,  and  we  find  the  same  Spirit  speaking  from  one 
end  of  the  Bible  to  the  other.  So  holy  men  in  all 
ages  have  spoken  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

HIS   PERSONALITY. 

I  was  a  Christian  a  long  time  before  I  found  out  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  was  a  person.  Now  this  is  something  a 
great  many  don't  seem  to  understand,  but  if  you  will 
just  take  up  the  Bible  and  see  what  Christ  had  to  say 


16  SECRET  POWER. 


about  the  Holy  Spirit,  you  will  find  that  He  always 
spoke  of  Him  as  a  person — never  spoke  of  Him  as  an 
influence.  Some  people  have  an  idea  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  an  attribute  of  God,  just  like  mercy — just  an 
influence  coming  from  God.  But  we  find  in  the  four- 
teenth chapter  of  John,  sixteenth  verse,  these  words : 
"And  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  He  shall  give  you 
another  Comforter  that  He  may  abide  with  you  for- 
ever." That  He  may  abide  with  you  forever.  And, 
again,  in  the  same  chapter,  seventeenth  verse:  "Even 
the  Spirit  of  Truth,  whom  the  world  can  not  receive, 
because  it  seeth  Him  not,  neither  knoweth  Him;  but  ye 
know  Him ;  for  He  dwelleth  with  you  and  shall  be  in 
you."  Again,  in  the  twenty-sixth  verse  of  the  same 
chapter:  "But  the  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy 
Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  He 
shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your 
remembrance  whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you." 

Observe  the  pronouns  "He"  and  "Him."  I  want 
to  call  attention  to  this  fact  that  whenever  Christ  spoke 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  He  spoke  of  Him  as  a  person,  not  a 
mere  influence ;  and  if  we  want  to  honor  the  Holy 
Ghost,  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  He  is  one  of  the  Trin- 
ity, a  personality  of  the  Godhead. 

THE  RESERVOIK  OF   LOVE. 

We  read  that  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love.  God  is 
love,  Christ  is  love,  and  we  should  not  be  surprised  to 
read  about  the  love  of  the  Spirit.  What  a  blessed  at- 
tribute is  this.  May  I  call  it  the  dome  of  the  temple  of 
the  graces.  Better  still,  it  is  the  crown  of  crowns  worn 
by  the  Triune  God.  Human  love  is  a  natural  emotion 


PO  WER — TTS  SO  URCE.  17 

which  flows  forth  towards  the  objeet  of  our  affections. 
But  Divine  love  is  as  high  above  human  love  as  the 
heaven  is  above  the  earth.  The  natural  man  is  of  the 
earth,  earthy,  and  however  pure  his  love  may  be,  it  is 
weak  and  imperfect  at  best.  But  the  love  of  God  is 
perfect  and  entire,  wanting  nothing.  It  is  as  a  mighty 
ocean  in  its  greatness,  dwelling  with  and  flowing  from 
the  Eternal  Spirit. 

In  Romans  v,  5,  we  read:  "And  hope  maketh  not 
ashamed,  because  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  given  to  us."  Now 
if  we  are  co-workers  with  God,  there  is  one  thing  we 
must  possess,  and  that  is  love.  A  man  may  be  a  very 
successful  lawyer  and  have  no  love  for  his  clients,  and 
yet  get  on  very  well.  A  man  may  be  a  very  successful 
physician  and  have  no  love  for  his  patients,  and  yet  be 
a  very  good  physician  ;  a  man  may  be  a  very  successful 
merchant  and  have  no  love  for  his  customers,  and  yet 
he  may  do  a  good  business  and  succeed  ;  but  no  man 
can  be  a  co-worker  with  God  without  love.  If  our  serv- 
ice is  mere  profession  on  our  part,  the  quicker  we  re- 
nounce it  the  better.  If  a  man  takes  up  God's  work  as 
he  would  take  up  any  profession,  the  sooner  he  gets  out 
of  it  the  better. 

We  can  not  work  for  God  without  love.  It  is  the  only 
tree  that  can  produce  fruit  on  this  sin-cursed  earth,  that 
is  acceptable  to  God.  If  I  have  no  love  for  God  nor  for 
my  fellow  man,  then  I  can  not  work  acceptably.  I  am 
like  sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal.  We  are  told 
that  "the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by 
the  Holy  Ghost."  Now,  if  we  have  had  that  love  shed 
abroad  in  our  hearts,  we  are  ready  for  God's  service ; 
2 


18  SECRET  POWEtt. 


it'  \vi-  havo  not,  we  are  not  ready.  It  is  so  easy  to  reach 
a  man  when  you  love  him  ;  all  barriers  are  broken  down 
and  swept  away. 

Paul  when  writing  to  Titus,  second  chapter  and  first 
verse,  tells  him  to  be  sound  in  faith,  in  charity,  and  in 
patience.  Now  in  this  age,  ever  since  I  can  remember, 
the  Church  has  been  very  jealous  about  men  being  un- 
sound in  the  faith.  If  a  man  becomes  unsound  in  the  faith, 
they  draw  their  ecclesiastical  sword  and  cut  at  him ;  but 
he  may  be  ever  so  unsound  in  love,  and  they  don't  say 
anything.  He  may  be  ever  so  defective  in  patience  ;  he 
may  be  irritable  and  fretful  all  the  time,  but  they  never 
deal  with  him.  Now  the  Bible  teaches  us,  that  we  are 
not  only  to  be  sound  in  the  faith,  but  in  charity  and  in 
patience.  I  believe  God  can  not  use  many  of  his  serv- 
ants, because  they  are  full  of  irritability  and  impatience; 
they  are  fretting  all  the  time,  from  morning  until  night. 
God  can  not  use  them  ;  their  mouths  are  sealed  ;  they 
can  not  speak  for  Jesus  Christ,  and  if  they  have  not  love, 
they  can  not  work  for  God.  I  do  not  mean  love  for 
those  that  love  me  ;  it  don't  take  grace  to  do  that ;  the 
rudest  Hottentot  in  the  world  can  do  that ;  the  greatest 
heathen  that  ever  lived  can  do  that ;  the  vilest  man  that 
ever  walked  the  earth  can  do  that.  It  don't  take  any 
grace  at  all.  I  did  that  before  I  ever  became  a  Christ- 
ian. Love  begets  love ;  hatred  begets  hatred.  If  I 
know  a  man  loves  me  first,  I  know  my  love  will  be  going 
out  towards  him.  Suppose  a  man  comes  to  me,  saying, 
"Mr.  Moody,  a  certain  man  told  me  to-day  that  he 
thought  you  were  the  meanest  man  living."  "Well,  if  I 
didn't  have  a  good  deal  of  the  grace  of  God  in  my  heart,, 
then  I  know  there  would  be  hard  feelings  that  Would 


POWER— ITS  SOURCE.  19 

spring  up  in  my  heart  against  that  man,  and  it 
would  not  be  long  before  I  would  be  talking  against 
him.  Hatred  begets  hatred.  But  suppose  a  man 
comes  to  me  and  says,  "Mr.  Moody,  do  you  know 
that  such  a  man  that  I  met  to-day  says  that  he 
thinks  a  great  deal  of  you?"  and  though  I  may  never 
have  heard  of  him,  there  would  be  love  springing 
up  in  my  heart.  Love  begets  love  ;  we  all  know  that ; 
but  it  takes  the  grace  of  God  to  love  the  man  that  lies 
about  me,  the  man  that  slanders  me,  the  man  that  is 
trying  to  tear  down  my  character ;  it  takes  the  grace  of 
God  to  love  that  man.  You  may  hate  the  sin  he  has 
committed  ;  there  is  a  difference  between  the  sin  and  the 
sinner ;  you  may  hate  the  one  with  a  perfect  hatred,  but 
you  must  love  the  sinner.  I  can  not  otherwise  do 
him  any  good.  Now  you  know  the  first  impulse  of  a 
young  convert  is  to  love.  Do  you  remember  the  day 
you  was  converted  ?  "Was  not  your  heart  full  of  sweet 
peace  and  love  ? 

THE    EIGHT    OVERFLOW. 

I  remember  the  morning  I  came  out  of  my  room  after 
I  had  first  trusted  Christ,  and  I  thought  the  old  sun 
shone  a  good  deal  brighter  than  it  ever  had  before ;  I 
thought  that  the  sun  was  just  smiling  upon  me,  and  I 
walked  out  upon  Boston  Common,  and  I  heard  the  birds 
in  the  trees,  and  I  thought  that  they  were  all  singing  a 
song  for  me.  Do  you  know  I  fell  in  love  with  the  birds  ? 
I  never  cared  for  them  before  ;  it  seemed  to  me  that  I 
was  in  love  with  all  creation.  I  had  not  a  bitter  jeling 
against  any  man,  and  I  was  ready  to  take  all  men  to  my 
heart.  If  a  man  has  not  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad 


20  SECRET  POWER. 


in  his  heart,  he  has  never  been  regenerated.  If  you  hear 
a  person  get  up  in  prayer-meeting,  and  he  begins  to 
speak  and  find  fault  with  everybody,  you  may  know  that 
his  is  not  a  genuine  conversion ;  that  it  is  counterfeit ; 
it  has  not  the  right  ring,  because  the  impulse  of  a  con- 
verted soul  is  to  love,  and  not  to  be  getting  up  and  com- 
plaining of  every  one  else,  and  finding  fault.  But  it  is 
hard  for  us  to  live  in  the  right  atmosphere  all  the  time. 
Some  one  comes  along  and  treats  us  wrongly,  perhaps 
we  hate  him ;  we  have  not  attended  to  the  means  of 
grace  and  kept  feeding  on  the  word  of  God  as  we  ought ; 
a  root  of  bitterness  springs  up  in  our  hearts,  and  per- 
haps we  are  not  aware  of  it,  but  it  has  come  up  in  our 
hearts;  then  we  are  not  qualified  to  work  for  God.  The 
love  of  God  is  not  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  as  it  ought 
to  be  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

But  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  to  impart  love. 
Paul  could  say,  "The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  me." 
He  could  not  help  going  from  town  to  town  and  preaching 
the  Gospel.  Jeremiah  at  one  time  said  :  "I  will  speak 
no  more  in  the  Lord's  name  ;  I  have  suffered  enough ; 
these  people  don't  like  God's  word.  They  lived  in  a 
wicked  day,  as  we  do  now.  Infidels  were  creeping  up 
all  around  him,  who  said  the  word  of  God  was  not  true  ; 
Jeremiah  had  stood  like  a  wall  of  fire,  confronting  them, 
and  he  boldly  proclaimed  that  the  word  of  God  was 
true.  At  last  they  put  him  in  prison,  and  he  said  :  "I 
will  keep  still ;  it  has  cost  me  too  much."  But  a  little 
while  after,  you  know,  he  could  not  keep  still.  His 
bones  caught  fire ;  he  had  to  speak.  And  when  we  are  so 
full  of  the  love  of  God,  we  are  compelled  to  work  for 
God,  then  God  blesses  us.  If  our  work  is  sought  to  be 


POWER  — ITS  SOURCE.  21 

accomplished  by  the  lash,  without  any  true  motive 
power,  it  will  come  to  nought. 

Now  the  question  comes  up,  have  we  the  love  of  God 
shed  abroad  in  our  hearts,  and  are  we  holding  the  truth 
in  lave?  Some  people  hold  the  truth,  but  in  such  a 
cold  stern  way  that  it  will  do  no  good.  Other  people 
want  to  love  everything,  and  so  they  give  up.  much  oi 
the  truth  ;  but  we  are  to  hold  the  truth  in  love ;  we  are 
to  hold  the  truth  even  if  we  lose  all,  but  we  are  to  hold 
ir  in  love,  and  if  we  do  that,  the  Lord  will  bless  us. 

There  are  a  good  many  people  trying  to  get  this  love  ; 
they  are  trying  to  produce  it  of  themselves.  But  therein 
all  fail.  The  love  implanted  deep  in  our  new  nature  will 
be  spontaneous.  I  don't  have  to  learn  to  love  my  children. 
I  can  not  help  loving  them.  I  said  to  a  young  miss  some 
time  ago,  in  an  inquiry  meeting,  who  said  that  she  could 
not  love  God  ;  that  it  was  very  hard  for  her  to  love  Him 
—I  said  to  her,  "Is  it  hard  for  you  to  love  your  moth- 
er ?  Do  you  have  to  learn  to  love  your  mother?" 
And  she  looked  up  through  her  tearls,  and  said, 
"  No  ;  I  can't  help  it ;  that  is  spontaneous."  "Well," 
I  said,  "  when  the  Holy  Spirit  kindles  love  in  your  heart, 
you  can  not  help  loving  God;  it  will  be  spontaneous." 
When  the  Spirit  of  God  comes  into  your  heart  arid  mine, 
it  will  be  easy  to  serve  God. 

The  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  as  you  find  it  in  Galatians,  be- 
gins with  love.  There  are  nine  graces  spoken  of  in  the 
sixth  chapter,  and  of  the  nine  different  graces  Paul  puts 
love  at  the  head  of  the  list ;  love  is  the  first  thing — the 
first  in  that  precious  cluster  of  fruit.  Some  one  has  put 
it  in  this  way :  that  all  the  other  eight  can  be  put  in  the 
word  love.  Joy  is  love  exulting ;  peace  is  love  in  re- 


22  SECRET  POWER. 


pose  ;  long  suffering  is  love  on  trial ;  gentleness  is  love  in 
society  ;  goodness  is  love  in  action  ;  faith  is  love  on  the 
battlefield  ;  meekness  is  love  at  school;  and  temperance 
is  love  in  training.  So  it  is  love  all  the  way ;  love  at 
the  top  ;  love  at  the  bottom,  and  all  the  way  along  down 
these  graces ;  and  if  we  only  just  brought  forth 
the  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  what  a  world  we  would  have ; 
there  would  be  no  need  of  any  policemen ;  a  man  could 
leave  his  overcoat  around  without  some  one  stealing  it ; 
men  would  not  have  any  desire  to  do  evil.  Says  Paul, 
"Against  such  there  is  no  law;"  you  don't  need  any 
law.  A  man  who  is  full  of  the  Spirit  don't  need  to  be 
put  under  law  ;  don't  need  any  policemen  to  watch  him. 
We  could  dismiss  all  our  policemen ;  the  lawyers 
would  have  to  give  up  practicing  law,  and  the  courts 
would  not  have  any  business. 

THE    TRIUMPHS    OF    HOPE. 

In  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Komans,  thirteenth  verse, 
the  Apostle  says  :  "  Now  the  God  of  hope  fill  you  with 
all  joy  and  peace  in  believing,  that  you  may  abound  in 
hope  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  next 
thing  then  is  hope. 

Did  you  ever  notice  this,  that  no  man  or  woman  is 
ever  used  by  God  to  build  up  His  kingdom  who  has  lost 
hope  ?  Now,  I  Irave  been  observing  this  throughout 
different  parts  of  the  country,  and  wherever  I  have 
found  a  worker  in  God's  vineyard  who  has  lost  hope,  I 
have  found  a  man  or  woman  not  very  useful.  Now, 
just  look  at  these  workers.  Let  your  mind  go  over  the 
past  for  a  moment.  Can  you  think  of  a  man  or  woman 
whom  God  has  used  to  build  Ilis  kingdom  who  has  lost 


Po  WER —ITS  so  URGE. 


hope?  I  don't  know  of  any  ;  I  never  heard  of  such  an 
one.  It  is  very  important  to  have  hope  in  the  Church  ; 
and  it  is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  impart  hope. 
Let  Him  come  into  some  of  the  churches  where  there 
have  not  been  any  conversions  for  a  few  years,  and  let 
Him  convert  a  score  of  people,  and  see  how  hopeful  the 
Church  becomes  at  once.  lie  imparts  hope ;  a  man 
filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God  will  be  very  hopeful.  He 
will  be  looking  out  into  the  future,  and  he  knows  that  it  is 
all  bright,  because  the  God  of  all  grace  is  able  to  do 
great  things.  So  it  is  very  important  that  we  have 
hope. 

If  a  man  has  lost  hope,  he -is  out  of  communion  with 
God  ;  he  has  not  the  Spirit  of  God  resting  upon  him  for 
service ;  he  may  be  a  son  of  God,  and  disheartened  so 
that  he  can  not  be  used  of  God.  Do  you  know  there  is 
no  place  in  the  Scriptures  where  it  is  recorded  that  God 
ever  used  even  a  discouraged  man.  Some  years  ago,  in 
my  work  I  was  quite  discouraged,  and  I  was  ready  to 
hang  my  harp  on  the  willow.  I  was  very  much  cast 
down  and  depressed.  I  had  been  ^for  weeks  in  that 
state,  when  one  Monday  morning  a  friend,  who  had  a 
very  large  Bible  class,  came  into  my  study.  I  used  to 
examine  the  notes  of  his  Sunday-school  lessons,  which 
were  equal  to  a  sermon,  and  he  came  to  me  this  morning 
and  said,  "Well,  what  did  you  preach  about  yesterday  ?  " 
and  I  told  him.  I  said,  "  What  did  you  preach  about  ?" 
and  he  said  that  he  preached  about  Noah.  "  Did  you 
ever  preach  about  Noah?"  "No,  I  never  preached 
about  Noah."  "Did  you  ever  study  his  character?" 
"No,  I  never  studied  his  life  particularly."  "Well," 
says  he,  "he  is  a  most  wonderful  character.  It  will  do 


24  SECRET  POWER. 


you  good.  You  ought  to  study  up  that  character." 
When  he  went  out,  I  took  down  my  Bible,  and  read 
about  Noah  ;  and  then  it  came  over  me  that  Noah 
worked  120  years  and  never  had  a  convert,  and  yet  he 
did  not  get  discouraged;  and  I  said,  "Well,  I  ought 
not  to  be  discouraged,"  and  I  closed  my  Bible,  got  up 
and  walked  down  town,  and  the  cloud  had  gone.  I 
went  down  to  the  noon  prayer-meeting,  and  heard  of  a 
little  town  in  the  country  where  they  had  taken  into  the 
church  100  young  converts;  and  I  said  to  myself,  I 
wonder  what  Noah  would  have  given  if  he  could  have 
heard  that;  and  yet  he  worked  120  years  and  didn't  get 
discouraged.  And  then  a  man  right  across  the  aisle  got 
up  and  said,  u  My  friends,  I  wish  you  to  pray  for  me ;  I 
think  I'm  lost ;"  and  I  thought  to  myself,  "  I  wonder 
what  Noah  would  have  given  to  hear  that."  He  never 
heard  a  man  say,  "  I  wish  you  to  pray  for  me ;  I  think  I 
am  lost,"  and  yet  he  didn't  get  discouraged  !  Oh, 
children  of  God,  let  us  not  get  discouraged  ;  let  us  ask 
God  to  forgive  us,  if  we  have  been  discouraged  and  cast 
down  ;  let  us  ask  God  to  give  us  hope,  that  we  may  be 
ever  hopeful.  It  does  me  good  sometimes  to  meet  some 
people  and  take  hold  of  their  hands  ;  they  are  so  hope- 
ful, while  other  people  throw  a  gloom  over  me  because 
they  are  all  the  time  cast  down,  and  looking  at  the  dark 
side,  and  looking  at  the  obstacles  and  difficulties  that 
are  in  the  way. 

THE   BOON    OF   LIBERTY. 

The  next  thing  the  Spirit  of  God  does  is  to  give  us 
liberty.  He  iirst  imparts  love  ;  lie  next  inspires  hope, 
and  then  gives  liberty,  and  that  is  about  the  last  thing 


POWER— ITS  SOURCE.  25 

we  have  in  a  good  many  of  our  churches  at  the  present 
day.  And  I  am  sorry  to  say  there  must  be  a  funeral  in 
a  good  many  churches  before  there  is  much  work  done, 
we  shall  have  to  bury  the  formalism  so  deep  that  it  will 
never  have  any  resurrection.  The  last  thing  to  be 
found  in  many  a  church  is  liberty. 

If  the  Gospel  happens  to  be  preached,  the  people  crit- 
icise, as  they  would  a  theatrical  performance.  It  is 
exactly  the  same,  and  many  a  professed  Christian  never 
thinks  of  listening  to  what  the  man  of  God  has  to  say. 
It  is  hard  work  to  preach  to  carnally-minded  critics, 
but  "  Where  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty." 

Very  often  a  woman  will  hear  a  hundred  good 
things  in  a  sermon,  and  there  may  be  one  thing  that 
strikes  her  as  a  little  out  of  place,  and  she  will  go  home 
and  sit  down  to  the  table  and  talk  right  out  before  her 
children  and  magnify  that  one  wrong  thing,  and  not  say 
a  word  about  the  hundred  good  things  that  were  said. 
That  is  what  people  do  who  criticise. 

God  does  not  use  men  in  captivity.  The  condition  of 
many  is  like  Lazarus  when  he  came  out  of  the  sepulcher 
bound  hand  and  foot.  The  bandage  was  not  taken  off 
his  mouth,  and  he  could  not  speak.  He  had  life,  and  if 
you  had  said  Lazarus  was  not  alive,  you  would  have  told 
a  falsehood,  because  he  was  raised  from  the  dead.  There 
are  a  great  many  people,  the  moment  you  talk  to  them 
and  insinuate  they  are  not  doing  what  they  might,  they 
say  :  "I  have  life.  I  am  a  Christian."  Well,  you  can't 
deny  it,  but  they  are  bound  hand  and  foot. 

May  God  snap  these  fetters  and  set  His  children 
free,  that  they  may  have  liberty.  I  believe  He  comes  to 
set  us  free,  and  wants  us  to  work  for  Him,  and  speak  for 


26  SECRET  POWER. 


Him.  How  many  people  would  like  to  get  up  in  a 
social  prayer-meeting  to  say  a  few  words  for  Christ,  but 
there  is  such  a  cold  spirit  of  criticism  in  the  Church  that 
they  dare  not  do  it.  They  have  not  the  liberty  to  do  it. 
If  they  get  up,  they  are  so  frightened  with  these  critics 
that  they  begin  to  tremble  and  sit  down.  They  can  not 
say  anything.  Now,  that  is  all  wrong.  The  Spirit  of 
God  comes  just  to  give  liberty,  and  wherever  you  see 
the  Lord's  work  going  on,  you  will  see  that  Spirit  of 
liberty.  People  won't  be  afraid  of  speaking  to  one 
another.  And  when  the  meeting  is  over  they  will  not 
get  their  hats  ainl  see  how  quick  they  can  get  out  of  the 
church,  but  will  begin  to  shake  hands  with  one  another, 
and  there  will  be  liberty  there.  A  good  many  go  to 
the  prayer-meeting  out  of  a  mere  cold  sense  of  duty. 
They  think  "I  must  attend  because  I  feel  it  is  my 
duty."  They  don't  think  it  is  a  glorious  privilege  to  meet 
and  pray,  and  to  be  strengthened,  and  to  help  some  one 
else  in  the  wilderness  journey. 

What  we  need  to-day  is  love  in  our  hearts.  Don't 
we  want  it?  Don't  we  want  hope  in  our  lives  ?  Don't 
we  want  to  be  hopeful  ?  Don't  we  want  liberty  ?  Now, 
all  this  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  let  us 
pray  God  daily  to  give  us  love,  and  hope,  and  liberty. 
We  read  in  Hebrews,  "  Having,  therefore,  brethren, 
boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of 
Jesus."  If  you  will  turn  to  the  passage  and  read  the 
margin  —  it  says:  "Having,  therefore,  brethren,  lib- 
erty to  enter  into  the  holiest."  We  can  go  into  the 
holiest,  having  freedom  of  access,  and  plead  for  this 
love  and  liberty  and  glorious  hope,  that  we  may  not  rest 
until  God  gives  us  the  power  to  work  for  Him. 


POWER-ITS  SOURCE.  27 

If  I  know  my  own  heart  to-day,  I  would  rather  die 
than  live  as  1  once  did,  a  mere  nominal  Christian,  and 
not  used  by  God  in  building  up  His  kingdom.  It  seems 
a  poor  empty  life  to  live  for  the  sake  of  self. 

Let  us  seek  to  be  useful.  Let  us  seek  to  be  vessels 
meet  for  the  Master's  use,  that  God,  the  Holy  Spirit, 
may  shine  fully  through  us. 

"  Know,  my  soul,  thy  full  salvation; 
Rise  o'er  sin,  and  fear,  and  care; 
Joy  to  find,  in  every  station. 
Something  still  to  do  or  bear. 

"  Think  what  Spirit  dwells  within  thee; 

Think  what  Father's  smiles  are  thine; 
Think  that  Jesus  died  to  win  thee: 
Child  of  heaven,  canst  thou  repine? 

"  Haste  thee  on  from  grace  to  glory, 

Armed  by  faith,  and  winged  by  prayer, 
Heaven's  eternal  day  's  before  thee: 
God's  own  hand  shall  guide  thee  there. 

"  Soon  shall  close  thy  earthly  mission, 
Soon  shall  pass  thy  pilgrim  days, 
Hope  shall  change  to  glad  fruition, 
Faith  to  sight,  and  prayer  to  praise." 


"jt  AM  so  weak,  dear  Lord!  T  can  not  stand 

One  moment  without  Thee; 
J      But  oh,  the  tenderness  of  Thy  enfolding. 

And  oh,  the  faithfulness  of  Thine  upholding, 
And  oh,  the  strength  of  Thy  right  hand ! 
That  strength  is  enough  for  me. 

"  I  am  so  needy,  Lord!  and  yet  I  know- 
All  fullness  dwells  in  Thee; 
And  hour  by  hour  that  never-failing  treasure 
Supplies  and  fills  in  overflowing  measure 
My  last  and  greatest  need.    And  so 
Thy  grace  is  enough  for  me. 

"  It  is  so  sweet  to  trust  Thy  word  alone! 

1  do  not  ask  to  see 

The  unveiling  of  Thy  purpose,  or  the  shining 
Of  future  light  on  mysteries  untwining; 
Thy  promise-roll  is  all  my  own — 

Thy  word  is  enough  for  me. 

"  There  were  strange  soul-depths,  restless,  vast  and  broad, 

Unfathomed  as  the  sea, 
An  infinite  craving  for  some  infinite  stilling; 
But  now  Thy  perfect  love  is  perfect  filling! 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  my  Lord,  my  God, 

Thou,  Thou  ait  enough  for  me!  " 


28 


CHAPTER  II. 


POWER  "IN"  AND  "UPON: 


You  remember  that  strange,  half-involuntary  "forty  years"  of 
Moses  in  the  "  wilderness  "  of  Midian,  when  he  had  fled  from  Egypt. 
You  remember,  too,  the  almost  equally  strange  years  of  retirement  in 
"  Arabia  "  by  Paul,  when,  if  ever,  humanly  speaking,  instant  action 
was  needed.  And  pre  eminently  you  remember  the  amazing  charge 
of  the  ascending  Lord  to  the  disciples,  "Tarry  at  Jerusalem." 
Speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  one  could  not  have  wondered  if 
out-spoken  Peter,  or  fervid  James,  had  said:  "Tarry,  Lord!  How 
long?  "  "  Tarry,  Lord!  is  there  not  a  perishing  world,  groaning  for 
the  '  good  news?  ' '  "  Tarry!  did  we  hear  Thee  aright,  Lord?  Was 
the  word  not  haste?  ''  Nay;  "  Boing  assembled  together  with  them, 
He  commanded  them  that  they  should  not  d-'pnrt  from  Jerusalem, 
but  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father."  (Acts  1:  4.)—Grosart. 


POWER— "IN"  AND  "UPON." 


THE  Holy  Spirit  dwelling  in  us,  is  one  thing;  I  think 
this  is  clearly  brought  out  in  Scripture ;  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  upon  us  for  service,  is  another  thing.  Now 
there  are  only  three  places  we  find  in  Scripture  that  are 
dwelling-places  for  the  Holy  Ghost. 

In  the  40th  chapter  of  Exodus,  commencing  with  the 
33d  verse,  are  these  words: 

"And  he  (that  is  Moses)  reared  up  the  court  round 
about  the  tabernacle  and  the  altar,  and  set  up  the  hang- 
ing of  the  court  gate.  So  Moses  finished  the  work. 

"Then  a  cloud  covered  the  tent  of  the  congregation, 
and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle. 

"And  Moses  was  not  able  to  enter  into  the  tent  of 
the  congregation,  because  the  cloud  abode  thereon,  and 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle." 

The  moment  that  Moses  finished  the  work,  the  mo- 
ment that  the  tabernacle  was  ready,  the  cloud  came, 
the  Shekinah  glory  came  and  filled  it  so  that  Moses  was 
not  able  to  stand  before  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  I 
believe  firmly,  that  the  moment  our  hearts  are  emptied 
of  pride  and  selfishness  and  ambition  and  self-seeking, 
and  everything  that  is  contrary  to  God's  law,  the  Holy 
Ghost  will  come  and  fill  every  corner  of  our  hearts ; 
but  if  we  are  full  of  pride  and  conceit,  and  ambition 
and  self-seeking,  and  pleasure  and  the  world,  there  is 


31 


32  SECRET  POWER. 


no  room  for  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  I  believe  many  a 
man  is  praying  to  God  to  fill  him  when  he  is  full 
already  with  something  else.  Before  we  pray  that  God 
would  fill  us,  I  believe  we  ought  to  pray  Him  to 
empty  us. 

There  must  be  an  emptying  before  there  can  be  a 
filling;  and  when  the  heart  is  turned  upside  down,  and 
everything  is  turned  out  that  is  contrary  to  God,  then 
the  Spirit  will  come,  just  as  He  did  in  the  tabernacle, 
and  fill  us  with  His  glory.  We  read  in  2d  Chronicles, 
5th  chapter  and  13th  verse:  "It  came  even  to  pass,  as 
the  trumpeters  and  singers  were  as  one  to  make  one 
sound,  to  be  heard  in  .praising  and  thanking  the  Lord, 
and  when  they  lifted  up  their  voice  with  the  trumpets 
and  cymbals  and  instruments  of  music,  and  praised  the 
Lord,  saying,  For  He  is  good ;  for  His  mercy  endureth 
forever ;  that  then  the  house  was  tilled  with  a  cloud, 
even  the  house  of  the  Lord.  So  that  the  priests  could 
not  stand  to  minister  by  reason  of  the  cloud,  for  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  had  filled  the  house  of  God." 

PRAISING   WITH    ONE    HEART. 

We  find,  the  very  moment  that  Solomon  com- 
pleted the  Temple,  when  all  was  finished,  they  were 
just  praising  God  with  one  heart — the  choristers  and 
the  singers  and  the  ministers  were  all  one ;  there  was 
not  any  discord ;  they  were  all  praising  God,  and  the 
glory  of  God  came  and  just  filled  the  Temple  as  the 
Tabernacle.  Now,  as  you  turn  over  into  the  New  Tes- 
tament, you  will  find,  instead  of  coming  to  Tabernacles 
and  Temples,  believers  are  now  the  Temple  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  When,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  before 


POWER— "IN"  AND  '  JPON:'  33 


Peter  preached  that  memorable  sermon,  as  they  were 
praying,  the  Holy  Ghost  came,  and  came  in  mighty 
power.  We  now  pray  for  the  Spirit  of  God  to  come, 
and  we  sing: 

"  Come,  Holy  Spirit,  heavenly  dove, 
With  all  thy  quickening  power; 
Kindle  a  flame  of  heavenly  love 
In  these  cold  hearts  of  ours." 

I  believe,  if  we  understand  it,  it  is  perfectly  right;  but 
if  we  are  praying  for  Him  to  come  out  of  heaven  down 
to  earth  again,  that  is  wrong,  because  He  is  already 
here ;  He  has  not  been  out  of  this  earth  for  1800  years; 
He  has  been  in  the  Church,  and  He  is  with  all  believ- 
ers; the  believers  in  the  Church  are  the  called-out 
ones ;  they  are  called  out  from  the  world,  and  every 
true  believer  is  a  Temple  for  the  Holy  Ghost  to  dwell 
in.  In  the  14th  chapter  of  John,  17th  verse,  we  have 
the  words  of  Jesus  : 

"The  Spirit  of  Truth,  whom  the 'world  can  not  re- 
ceive, because  it  seeth  Him  not,  neither  knoweth  Him ; 
but  ye  know  Him,  for  He  dwelleth  in  you." 

"  Greater  is  He  that  is  in  you  than  He  that  is  in  the 
world."  If  we  have  the  Spirit  dwelling  in  us,  He 
gives  us  power  over  the  flesh  and  the  world,  and  over 
every  enemy.  "He  is  dwelling  with  you,  and  shall  be 
in  you." 

Head  1st  Corinthians  iii,  16  :  "  Know  ye  not  that  ye 
are  the  temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwelleth  in  you?" 

There  were  some  men  burying  an  aged  saint  some 
time  ago,  and  he  was  very  poor,  like  many  of  God's  peo- 
ple, poor  in  this  world,  but  they  are  very  rich,  they  have 
3 


34  SECRET  POWER. 


all  the  riches  on  the  other  side  of  life — they  have  them 
laid  up  there  where  thieves  can  not  get  them,  and  where 
sharpers  can  not  take  them  away  from  them,  and  where 
moth  can  not  corrupt — so  this  aged  man  was  very  rich 
in  the  other  world,  and  they  were  just  hastening  him  off 
to  the  grave,  wanting  to  get  rid  of  him,  when  an  old 
minister,  who  was  officiating  at  the  grave,  said,  "  Tread 
softly,  for  you  are  carrying  the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghcst."  Whenever  you  see  a  believer,  you  see  a  temple 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

In  1  Cor.  vi,  19,  20,  we  read  again:  "Know  ye  not 
that  your  body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is 
in  you,  which  ye  have  of  God,  and  ye  are  not  your  own 
for  ye  are  bought  with  a  price,  therefore  glorify  God  in 
your  body  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's."  Thus 
are  we  taught  that  there  is  a  divine  resident  in  every 
.child  of  God. 

I  think  it  is  clearly  taught  in  the  Scripture  that  every 
believer  has  the  Holy  Ghost  dwelling  in  him.  He  may  be 
quenching  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  he  may  not  glorify 
God  as  he  should,  but  if  he  is  a  believer  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Holy  Ghost  dwells  in  him.  But 
I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  another  fact.  I  be- 
lieve to-day,  that  though  Christian  men  and  women  have 
the  Holy  Spirit  dwelling  in  them,  yet  He  is  not  dwelling 
within  them  in  power  ;  in  other  words,  God  has  a  great 
many  sons  and  daughters  without  power. 

WHAT   IS   NEEDED. 

Nine-tenths,  at  least,  of  the  church  members  never 
think  of  speaking  for  Christ.  If  they  see  a  man, 
perhaps  a  near  relative,  just  going  right  down  to 


POWER— "IN"  AND  "UPON."  35 

ruin,  going  rapidly,  they  never  think  of  speaking 
to  him  about  his  sinful  course  and  of  seeking  to 
win  him  to  Christ.  Now  certainly  there  must  be 
something  wrong.  And  yet  when  you  talk  with  them 
you  find  they  have  faith,  and  you  can  riot  say  they  are 
not  children  of  God  ;  but  they  have  not  the  power,  they 
have  not  the  liberty,  they  have  not  the  love  that  real 
disciples  of  Christ  should  have.  A  great  many  people 
are  thinking  that  we  need  new  measures,  that  we  need 
new  churches,  that  we  need  new  organs,  and  that  we 
need  new  choirs,  and  all  these  new  things.  That  is  not 
what  the  Church  of  God  needs  to-day.  It  is  the  old  power 
that  the  Apostles  had ;  that  is  what  we  want,  and  if  we 
have  that  in  our  churches,  there  will  be  new  life.  Then 
we  will  have  new  ministers — the  same  old  ministers  re- 
newed with  power;  filled  with  the  Spirit.  I  remem- 
ber when  in  Chicago  many  were  toiling  in  the  work,  and 
it  seemed  as  though  the  car  of  salvation  didn't  move  on, 
when  a  minister  began  to  cry  out  from  the  very  depths 
of  his  heart,  "Oh,  God,  put  new  ministers  in  every 
pulpit."  On  next  Monday  I  heard  two  or  three  men 
stand  up  and  say,  "We  had  a  new  minister  last  Sunday 
— the  same  old  minister,  but  he  had  got  new  power," 
and  I  firmly  believe  that  is  what  we  want  to-day  all  over 
America.  We  want  new  ministers  in  the  pulpit  and  new 
people  in  the  pews.  We  want  people  quickened  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  the  Spirit  coming  down  and  taking 
possession  of  the  children  of  God  and  giving  them 
power. 

Then  a  man  filled  with  the  Spirit  will  know  how  to 
use  "the  sword  of  the  Spirit."  If  a  man  is  not  filled  with 
the  Spirit,  he  will  never  know  now  to  use  the  Book.  We 


36  SECRET  POWER. 


are  told  that  tins  is  the  sword  of  the  Spirit ;  and  what  is 
an  army  good  for  that  does  not  know  how  to  use  its 
weapons?  Suppose  a  battle  going  on,  and  I  were  a 
general  and  had  a  hundred  thousand  men,  great,  able- 
bodied  men,  full  of  life,  but  they  could  not  one  of  them 
handle  a  sword,  and  not  one  of  them  knew  how  to  use 
his  rifle,  what  would  that  army  be  good  for?  Why,  one 
thousand  well-drilled  men,  with  good  weapons,  would 
rout  the  whole  of  them.  The  reason  why  the  Church 
can  not  overcome  the  enemy  is,  because  she  don't  know 
how  to  use  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  People  will  get  up  and 
try  to  fight  the  devil  with  their  experiences,  but  he 
don't  care  for  that,  he  will  overcome  them  every  time. 
People  are  trying  to  fight  the  devil  with  theories 
and  pet  ideas,  but  he  will  get  the  victory  over  them 
likewise.  What  we  want  is  to  draw  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit.  It  is  that  which  cuts  deeper  than  anything 
else. 

Turn  in  your  Bibles  to  Eph.  vi,  14  :  "Stand,  there- 
fore, having  your  loins  girt  about  with  truth,  and  hav- 
ing on  the  breastplate  of  righteousness  ;  and  your  feet 
shod  with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace  ;  above 
all  (or  over  all),  taking  the  shield  of  faith,  wherewith  ye 
shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked. 
And  take  the  helmet  of  salvation  and  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God." 

THE    GREATEST    WEAPON. 

The  sword  of  the  Spirit  is  the  Word  of  God,  and  what 
we  need  specially  is  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit,  so  we  shall 
know  how  to  use  the  Word.  There  was  a  Christian  man 
talking  to  a  skeptic,  who  was  using  the  Word,  and  the 


POWER—  "/#"  AND  "UPON."  37 

skeptic  said,  "  I  don't  believe,  sir,  in  that  Book."  But 
the  man  went  right  on  and  he  gave  him  more  of  the 
Word;  and  the  man  again  remarked,  "  I  don't  believe 
the  Word,"  but  he  kept  giving  him  more,  and  at  last  the 
man  was  readied.  Ai.d  the  brother  added,  "When  I 
have  proved  a  good  sword  which  does  the  work  of 
execution,  I  would  just  keep  right  on  using  it."  That 
is  what  we  want.  Skeptics  and  infidels  may  say  they 
don't  believe  in  it.  It  is  not  our  work  to  make  them 
believe  in  it ;  that  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit.  Our  work 
is  to  give  them  the  Word  of  God ;  not  to  preach  our 
theories  and  our  ideas  about  it,  but  just  to  deliver  the 
message  as  God  gives  it  to  us.  We  read  in  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  Gideon.  Suppose 
Gideon  had  gone  out  without  the  Word,  he  would  have 
been  defeated.  But  the  Lord  used  Gideon  ;  and  I  think 
you  find  all  through  the  Scriptures,  God  takes  up  and 
uses  human  instruments.  You  can  not  find,  I  believe,  a 
case  in  the  Bible  where  a  man  is  converted  without  God 
calling  in  some  human  agency — using  some  human 
instrument ;  not  but  what  He  can  do  it  in  His  indepen- 
dent sovereignty ;  there  is  no  doubt  about  that.  Even 
when  by  the  revealed  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  Saul  of 
Tarsus  was  smitten  to  the  earth,  Annanias  was  used  to 
open  his  eyes  and  lead  him  into  the  light  of  the  Gospel. 
I  heard  a  man  once  say,  if  you  put  a  man  on  a  mountain 
peak,  higher  than  one  of  the  Alpine  peaks,  God  could 
save  him  without  a  human  messenger  ;  but  that  is  not 
His  way  ;  that  is  not  His  method  ;  but  it  is  "  the  sword 
of  the  Lord  and  Gideon";  arid  the  Lord  and  Gideon 
will  do  the  work  ;  and  if  we  are  just  willing  to  let  the 
Lord  use  us,  He  will. 


38  SECRET  POWER. 


NONE    OF    SELF. 


Then  you  will  find  all  through  the  Scriptures,  when 
men  were  tilled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  preached 
Christ  and  not  themselves.  They  preached  Christ  and 
Him  crucified.  It  says  in  the  first  chapter  of  Luke, 
C7th  verse,  speaking  of  Zucharias,  the  father  of  John 
the  Baptist : 

"And  his  father,  Zacharias,  was  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  prophesied,  saying:  Blessed  be  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel,  for  He  hath  visited  and  redeemed  His 
people,  and  hath  raised  up  an  horn  of  salvation  for  us 
in  the  house  of  His  servant  David.  As  He  spake  by 
the  mouth  of  His  Holy  prophets,  which  have  been  since 
the  world  began." 

See,  he  is  talking  about  the  Word.  If  a  man  is  filled 
with  the  Spirit,  he  will  magnify  the  Word ;  he  will 
preach  the  Word,  and  not  himself;  he  will  give 
this  lost  world  the  Word  of  the  living  God.  "And 
thou,  child,  shalt  be  called  the  prophet  of  the  Highest ; 
for  thou  shalt  go  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  to  pre- 
pare His  ways.  To  give  knowledge  of  salvation  unto 
His  people  by  the  remission  of  their  sins,  through 
the  tender  mercy  of  our  God,  whereby  the  day-spring 
from  on  high  hath  visited  us.  To  give  light  to  them 
that  sit  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  to  guide 
our  feet  into  the  way  of  peace.  And  the  child  grew  and 
waxed  strong  in  spirit,  and  was  in  the  deserts  till  the 
day  of  his  showing  unto  Israel."  And  so  we  find  again 
that  when  Elizabeth  and  Mary  met,  they  talked  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  they  were  both  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  at  once  began  to  talk  of  their  Lord. 


POWER—  "IN"  AND  "UPON."  39 

We  also  find  that  Simeon,  as  he  came  into  the  temple 
and  found  the  young  child  Jesus  there,  at  once  began  to 
quote  the  Scriptures,  for  the  Spirit  was  upon  him.  And 
when  Peter  stood  up  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and 
preached  that  wonderful  sermon,  it  is  said  he  was  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  began  to  preach  the  Word  to 
the  multitude,  and  it  was  the  Word  that  cut  them.  It 
was  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  Peter,  the  same  as  it 
was  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  Gideon.  And  we  find  it 
says  of  Stephen,  "They  were  not  able  to  resist  the  spirit 
and  wisdom  by  which  he  spake."  Why?  Because  he 
gave  them  the  Word  of  God.  And  we  are  told  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  came  on  Stephen,  and  none  could  resist 
his  word.  And  we  read,  too,  that  Paul  was  full  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  that  he  preached  Christ  and  Him  cruci- 
fied, and  that  many  people  were  added  to  the  Church. 
Barnabas  was  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  if 
you  will  just  read  and  find  out  what  he  preached,  you 
will  find  it  was  the  Word,  and  many  were  added  to  the 
Lord.  So  that  when  a  man  is  full  of  the  Spirit,  he 
begins  to  preach,  not  himself,  but  Christ,  as  revealed 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

The  disciples  of  Jesus  were  all  filled  with  the  Spirit, 
and  the  Word  was  published  ;  and  when  the  Spirit  of 
God  comes  down  upon  the  Church,  and  we  are  anointed, 
the  Word  will  be  published  in  the  streets,  in  the  lanes, 
and  in  the  alleys  ;  there  will  not  be  a  dark  cellar  nor  a 
dark  attic,  nor  a  home  where  the  Gospel  will  not  be 
carried  by  some  loving  heart,  if  the  Spirit  comes  upon 
God's  people  in  demonstration  and  in  power. 


40  SECRET  POWER. 


SPIRITUAL    IRRIGATION. 

It  is  possible  a  man  may  just  barely  have  life  and  be 
satisfied  ;  and  I  think  that  a  great  many  are  in  that  con- 
dition. In  the  3d  chapter  of  John  we  find  that  Nico- 
demus  came  to  Christ  and  that  he  received  life.  At  first 
this  life  was  feeble.  You  don't  hear  of  him  standing  up 
confessing  Christ  boldly,  and  of  the  Spirit  coming  upon 
him  in  great  power,  though  possessing  life  through 
faith  in  Christ.  And  then  turn  to  the  4th  chapter  of 
John,  and  you  will  find  it  speaks  of  the  woman  coming 
to  the  well  of  Samaria,  and  Christ  held  out  the  cup  of 
salvation  to  her  and  she  took  it  and  drank,  and  it  became 
in  her  "  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting 
life."  That  is  better  than  in  the  3d  chapter  of  John  ; 
here  it  came  down  in  a  flood  into  her  soul ;  as  some  one 
has  said,  it  came  down  from  the  throne  of  God,  and 
like  a  mighty  current  carried  her  back  to  the  throne  of 
God.  Water  always  rises  to  its  level,  and  if  we  get  the 
soul  filled  with  water  from  the  throne  of  God  it  will 
bear  us  upward  to  its  source. 

But  if  you  want  to  get  the  best  class  of  Christian  life 
portrayed,  turn  to  the  7th  chapter  and  you  will  find  that 
it  says  he  that  receiveth  the  Spirit,  through  trusting  in 
the  Lord  Jesus,  "out  of  him  shall  flow  rivers  of  living 
water."  Now  there  are  two  ways  of  digging  a  well.  I 
remember,  when  a  boy,  upon  a  farm,  in  New  England, 
they  had  a  well,  and  they  put  in  an  old  wooden  pump, 
and  I  used  to  have  to  pump  the  water  from  that  well 
upon  wash-day,  and  to  water  the  cattle  ;  and  I  had  to 
pump  and  pump  and  pump  until  my  arm  got  tired, 
many  a  time.  But  they  have  a  better  way  now  ;  they 


POWER—  "IN"  AND  "UPON." 


don't  dig  down  a  few  feet  and  brick  up  the  hole  and 
put  the  pump  in,  but  they  go  down  through  the  clay  and 
the  sand  and  the  rock,  and  on  down  until  they  strike 
what  they  call  a  lower  stream,  and  then  it  becomes  an 
artesian  well,  which  needs  no  labor,  as  the  water  rises 
spontaneously  from  the  depths  beneath. 

Now  I  think  God  wants  all  His  children  to  be  a  sort 
of  artesian  well  ;  not  to  keep  pumping,  but  to  flow  right 
out.  Why,  haven't  you  seen  ministers  in  the  pulpit 
just  pumping,  and  pumping  and  pumping  ?  I  have,  many 
a  time,  and  I  have  had  to  do  it,  too.  I  know  how  it  is. 
They  stand  in  the  pulpit  and  talk  and  talk  and  talk,  and 
the  people  go  to  sleep,  they  can't  arouse  them.  What 
is  the  trouble  ?  Why,  the  living  water  is  not  there  ; 
they  are  just  pumping  when  there  is  no  water  in  the 
well.  You  can't  get  water  out  of  a  dry  well  ;  you  have 
to  get  something  in  the  well,  or  you  can't  get  anything 
out.  I  have  seen  these  wooden  pumps  where  you  had 
to  pour  water  into  them  before  you  could  pump  any 
water  out,  and  so  it  is  with  a  good  many  people  ;  you 
have  to  get  something  in  them  before  you  can  get  any- 
thing out.  People  wonder  why  it  is  that  they  have  no 
Spiritual  power.  They  stand  up  and  talk  in  meeting, 
and  don't  say  anything  ;  they  say  they  haven't  any- 
thing to  say,  and  you  find  it  out  soon  enough  ;  they 
need  not  state  it;  but  they  just  talk,  because  they  feel  it 
is  a  duty,  and  say  nothing. 

Now  I  tell  you  when  the  Spirit  of  God  is  on  us  for 
service,  resting  upon  us,  we  are  anointed,  and  then 
we  can  do  great  things.  "  I  will  pour  water  on  him  that 
is  thirsty,"  says  God.  O,  blessed  thought  —  "  He  that 
hungers  and  thirsts  after  righteousness  shall  be  tilled.!" 


42  SECRET  POWER. 


OUTFLOWING    STREAMS. 

I  would  like  to  see  some  one  just  full  of  living  water ; 
so  full  that  they  couldn't  contain  it ;  that  they  would 
have  to  go  out  and  publish  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God.  When  a  man  gets  so  full  that  he  can't  hold  any 
more,  then  he  is  just  ready  for  God's  service. 

When  preaching  in  Chicago,  Dr.  Gibson  remarked  in 
the  inquiry  meeting,  "Now,  how  can  we  find  out  who  is 
thirsty  ?"  Said  he,  "  I  was  just  thinking  how  we  could 
find  out.  If  a  boy  should  come  down  the  aisle,  bringing 
a  good  pail  full  of  clear  water,  and  a  dipper,  we  would  soon 
find  out  who  was  thirsty  ;  we  would  see  thirsty  men  and 
women  reach  out  for  water  ;  but  if  you  should  walk  down 
the  aisle  with  an  empty  bucket,  you  wouldn't  find  it  out. 
People  would  look  in  and  see  that  there  was  no  water, 
and  say  nothing."  So  said  he,  '%I  think  that  is  the 
reason  we  are  not  more  blessed  in  our  ministry ;  we  are 
carrying  around  empty  buckets,  and  the  people  see  that 
we  have  not  anything  in  them,  and  they  don't  come  for- 
ward." I  think  that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in 
that.  People  see  that  we  are  carrying  around  empty 
buckets,  and  they  will  not  come  to  us  until  they  are 
filled.  They  see  we  haven't  any  more  than  they  have. 
We  must  have  the  Spirit  of  God  resting  upon  us,  and 
then  we  will  have  something  that  gives  the  victory  over 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil ;  something  that  gives 
the  victory  over  our  tempers,  over  our  conceits,  and 
over  every  other  evil,  and  when  we  can  trample  these 
sins  under  our  feet,  then  people  will  come  to  us  and  say, 
"How  did  you  get  it?  I  need  this  power;  you  have 
something  that  I  haven't  got ;  I  want  it."  O,  may  God 


PO WER  —"IN"  AND  " UPON."  43 

show  us  this  truth.  Have  we  been  toiling  all  night? 
let  us  throw  the  net  on  the  right  side ;  let  us  ask  God 
to  forgive  our  sins,  and  anoint  us  with  power  from  on 
high.  But  remember,  He  is  not  going  to  give  this  power 
to  an  impatient  man  ;  He  is  not  going  to  give  it  to  a 
selfish  man  ;  He  will  never  give  it  to  an  ambitious  man 
whose  aim  is  selfish,  till  first  emptied  of  self;  emptied 
of  pride  and  of  all  worldly  thoughts.  Let  it  be  God's 
glory  and  not  our  own  that  we  seek,  and  when  we  get 
to  that  point,  how  speedily  the  Lord  will  bless  us  for 
good.  Then  will  the  measure  of  our  blessing  be  full. 
Do  you  know  what  heaven's  measure  is  ?  Good  meas- 
ure, pressed  down,  shaken  together,  and  running  over. 
If  we  get  our  heart  filled  with  the  Word  of  God,  how 
is  Satan  going  to  get  in  ?  How  is  the  world  going  to 
get  in,  for  heaven's  measure  is  good  measure,  full  meas- 
ure, running  over.  Have  you  this  fullness  ?  If  you 
have  not,  then  seek  it ;  say  by  the  grace  of  God  you 
will  have  it,  for  it  is  the  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give 
us  these  things.  He  wants  us  to  shine  down  in  this 
world ;  He  wants  to  lift  us  up  for  His  work  ;  He  wants 
us  to  have  the  power  to  testify  for  His  Son.  He  has 
left  us  in  this  world  to  testify  for  Him.  What  did  He 
leave  us  for  ?  Not  to  buy  and  sell  and  to  get  gain,  but 
to  glorify  Christ.  How  are  you  going  to  do  it  without 
the  Spirit  ?  That  is  the  question.  How  are  you  to  do 
it  without  the  power  of  God  ? 

WHY    SOME   FAIL. 

We  read  in  John  xx,  22:  "And  when  He  had  said 
this,  He  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto  them,  Re- 
ceive ye  the  Holy  Ghost. ' ' 


44  SECRET  PO I r/;/?. 


Then  see  Luke  xxiv,  49  :  "  And,  behold,  I  send  the 
promise  of  my  Father  upon  you  ;  but  tarry  ye  in  the  city 
of  Jerusalem  until  ye  be  endued  with  power  from  on 
high." 

The  first  passage  tells  us  He  had  raised  those  pierced 
and  wounded  hands  over  them  and  breathed  upon  them 
and  said,  "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost."  And  I  haven't 
a  doubt  they  received  it  then,  but  not  in  such  mighty 
power  as  alterward  when  qualified  for  their  work.  It 
was  nut  in  fullness  that  He  gave  it  to  them  then  ,  but 
if  they  had  been  like  a  good  many  now,  they  would 
have  said,  "I  have  enough  now;  I  am  not  going  to 
tarry  ;  I  am  going  to  work." 

Some  people  seem  to  think  they  are  losing  time  if 
they  wait  on  God  for  His  power,  and  so  away  they  go 
and  work  without  unction  ;  they  are  working  without 
any  anointing,  they  are  working  without  any  power. 
But  after  Jesus  had  said  "  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost," 
and  had  breathed  on  them,  He  said:  "Now  you  tarry 
in  Jerusalem  until  you  be  endued  with  power  from  on 
high."  Read  in  the  1st  chapter  of  Acts,  8th  verse: 
"But  ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  come  upon  you." 

Now,  the  Spirit  had  been  given  them  certainly  or 
they  could  not  have  believed,  and  they  could  not  have 
taken  their  stand  for  God  and  gone  through  what 
they  did,  and  endured  the  scoffs  and  frowns  of  their 
friends,  if  they  had  not  been  converted  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  now  just  see  what  Christ 
said: 

"Ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  come  upon  you ;  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me 


POWER— "IN"  AND  "UPON."  45 

both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria, 
and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth." 

Then,  the  Holy  Spirit  IN  us  is  one  thing,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  ON  us  is  another ;  and  if  these  Christians  had 
gone  out  and  went  right  to  preaching  then  and  there, 
without  the  power,  do  you  think  that  scene  would  have 
taken  place  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  ?  Don't  you  think 
that  Peter  would  have  stood  up  there  and  beat  against 
the  air,  while  these  Jews  would  have  gnashed  their 
teeth  and  mocked  him  ?  But  they  tarried  in  Jerusa- 
lem ;  they  waited  ten  days.  What !  you  say.  What, 
the  world  perishing  and  men  dying !  Shall  I  wait  ? 
Do  what  God  tells  you.  There  is  no  use  in  running  be- 
fore you  are  sent ;  there  is  no  use  in  attempting  to  do 
God's  work  without  God's  power.  A  man  working 
without  this  unction,  a  man  working  without  this 
anointing,  a  man  working  without  the  Holy  Ghost  upon 
him,  is  losing  his  time  after  all.  So  we  are  not  going 
to  lose  anything  if  vte  tarry  till  we  get  this  power. 
That  is  the  object  of  true  service,  to  wait  on  God,  to 
tarry  till  we  receive  this  power  for  witness-bearing. 
Then  we  find  that  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  ten  days 
after  Jesus  Christ  was  glorified,  the  Holy  Spirit  de- 
scended in  power.  Do  you  think  that  Peter  and  Jumes 
and  John  and  those  apostles  doubted  it  from  that  very 
hour  ?  They  never  doubted  it.  Perhaps  some  question 
the  possibility  of  having  the  power  of  God  now,  and 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  never  came  afterward  in  simi- 
lar manifestation,  and  will  never  come  again  in  such 
power. 


46  SECRET  POWER. 


FRESH    SUPPLIES. 

Turn  to  Acts  iv,  31,  and  you  will  find  He  came  a 
second  time,  and  at  a  place  where  they  were,  so  that  the 
earth  was  shaken,  and  they  were  filled  with  this  power. 
The  fact  is,  we  are  leaky  vessels,  and  we  have  to  keep 
right  under  the  fountain  all  the  time  to  keep  full  of 
Christ,  and  so  have  a  fresh  supply. 

I  believe  this  is  a  mistake  a  great  many  of  us  are 
making ;  we  are  trying  to  do  God's  work  with  the  grace 
God  gave  us  ten  years  ago.  We  say,  if  it  is  necessary, 
we  will  go  on  with  the  same  grace.  Now,  what  we 
want  is  a  fresh  supply,  a  fresh  anointing  and  fresh 
power,  and  if  we  seek  it,  and  seek  it  with  all  our  hearts, 
we  will  obtain  it.  The  early  converts  were  taught  to 
look  for  that  power.  Philip  went  to  Samaria,  and  news 
reached  Jerusalem  that  tluere  was  a  great  work  being 
done  in  Samaria,  and  many  converts;  and  John  and 
Peter  went  down,  and  they  laid  their  hands  on  them, 
and  they  received  the  Holy  Ghost  for  service.  I  think 
that  is  what  we  Christians  ought  to  be  looking  for, — the 
Spirit  of  God  for  service — that  God  may  use  us  might- 
ily in  the  building  up  of  His  Church  and  hastening 
His  glory.  In  Acts  xix  we  read  of  twelve  men  at 
Ephesus,  who,  when  the  inquiry  was  made  if  they  had 
received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  they  believed,  an- 
swered: "We  have  not  so  much  as  heard  whether 
there  be  any  Holy  Ghost."  I  venture  to  say  there  are 
very  many,  who,  if  you  were  to  ask  them,  ''Have  you 
received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  you  believed?"  would 
reply,  "I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  that."  They 
would  be  like  the  twelve  men  down  at  Ephesus,  who 


POWER—  "IN"  AND  "UPON."  47 

had  never  understood  the  peculiar  relation  of  the  Spirit 
to  the  sons  of  God  in  this  dispensation.  I  firmly  be- 
lieve that  the  Church  has  just  laid  this  knowledge  aside, 
mislaid  it  somewhere,  and  so  Christians  are  without 
power.  Sometimes  you  can  take  one  hundred  members 
into  the  Church,  and  they  don't  add  to  its  power.  Now 
that  is  all  wrong.  If  they  were  only  anointed  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  there  would  be  great  power  if  one  hun- 
dred saved  ones  were  added  to  the  Church. 

GREEN    FIELDS. 

When  I  was  out  in  California,  the  first  time  I  went 
down  from  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains  and  dropped 
into  the  Yalley  of  the  Sacramento,  I  was  surprised  to 
find  on  one  farm  that  everything  about  it  was  green — 
all  the  trees  and  flowers,  everything  was  blooming,  and 
everything  was  green  and  beautiful,  and  just  across  the 
hedge  everything  was  dried  up,  and  there  was  not  a 
green  thing  there,  and  I  could  not  understand  it ;  I 
made  inquiries,  and  I  found  that  the  man  that  had 
everything  green,  irrigated ;  he  just  poured  the  water 
right  on,  and  he  kept  everything  green,  while  the  fields 
that  were  next  to  his  were  as  dry  as  Gideon's  fleece 
without  a  drop  of  dew ;  and  so  it  is  with  a  great  many 
in  the  Church  to-day.  They  are  like  these  farms  in  Cal- 
ifornia— a  dreary  desert,  everything  parched  and  deso- 
late, and  apparently  no  life  in  them.  They  can  sit  next 
to  a  man  who  is  full  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  who  is  like  a 
green  bay  tree,  and  who  is  bringing  forth  fruit,  and  yet 
they  will  not  seek  a  similar  blessing.  Well,  why  thit5 
difference?  Because  God  has  poured  water  on  him  that 
was  thirsty  ;  that  is  the  difference.  One  has  been  seek- 


4S  SECRET  POWER. 


ing  this  anointing,  and  lie  has  received  it ;  and  when  we 
want  this  above  everything  else  God  will  surely  give 
it  to  us. 

The  great  question  before  us  now  is,  Do  we  want  it  ? 
I  remember  when  I  first  went  to  England  and  gave 
a  Bible  reading,  I  think  about  the  first  that  I  gave  in 
that  country,  a  great  many  ministers  were  there,  and 
I  did'nt  know  anything  about  English  theology,  and  I 
\\  as  afraid  I  should  run  against  their  creeds,  and  I  was 
a  little  hampered,  especially  on  this  very  subject,  about 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  service.  I  remember 
particularly  a  Christian  minister  there  who  had  his  head 
bowed  on  his  hand,  and  I  thought  the  good  man  was 
ashamed  of  everything  I  was  saying,  and  of  course 
that  troubled  me.  At  the  close  of  my  address  he  took 
his  hat  and  away  he  went,  and  then  I  thought,  "Well, 
I  shall  never  sec  him  again."  At  the  next  meeting  I 
looked  all  around  for  him  and  he  wasn't  there,  and 
at  the  next  meeting  I  looked  again,  but  he  was  ab- 
sent;  and  I  thought  my  teaching  must  have  given  him 
offense.  But  a  few  days  after  that,  at  a  large  noon 
prayer  meeting,  a  man  stood  up  and  his  face  shone  as  if 
he  had  been  up  in  the  mountain  with  God,  and  I  looked 
at  him,  and  to  my  great  joy  it  was  this  brother.  He 
said  he  was  at  that  Bible  reading,  and  he  heard  there 
was  such  a  thing  as  having  fresh  power  to  preach  the 
Gospel ;  he  said  he  made  up  his  mind  that  if  that  was 
for  him  lie  would  have  it ;  he  said  he  went  home  and 
looked  to  the  Master,  and  that  he  never  had  such  a  bat- 
tle with  himself  in  his  life.  He  asked  that  God  would 
show  him  the  sinfulness  of  his  heart  that  he  knew  noth- 
ing about,  and  he  just  cried  mightily  to  God  that  he 


POWER—  "IN"  AND  "UPON."  49 

might  be  emptied  of  himself  and  filled  with  the  Spirit, 
and  he  said,  "God  has  answered  my  prayer."  I  met 
him  in  Edinburgh  six  months  from  that  date,  and  he 
told  me  he  had  preached  the  Gospel  every  night  during 
that  time,  that  he  had  riot  preached  one  sermon  but 
that  some  remained  for  conversation,  and  that  he  had 
engagements  four  months  ahead  to  preach  the  Gospel 
every  night  in  different  churches.  I  think  you  could 
have  fired  a  cannon  ball  right  through  his  church  and 
not  hit  any  one  before  he  got  this  anointing ;  but  it 
was  not  thirty  days  before  the  building  was  full  and 
aisles  crowded.  He  had  his  bucket  filled  full  of  fresh 
water,  and  the  people  found  it  out  and  came  flocking 
to  him  from  every  quarter.  I  tell  you,  you  can't 
get  the  stream  higher  than  the  fountain.  What  we 
need  very  specially  is  power.  There  was  another  man 
whom  I  have  in  my  mind,  and  he  said,  "I  have  heart 
disease,  I  can't  preach  more  than  once  a  week,"  so  he 
had  a  colleague  to  preach  for  him  and  do  the  visiting. 
He  was  an  old  minister,  and  he  couldn't  do  any  visiting. 
He  had  heard  of  this  anointing,  and  said,  "  I  would 
like  to  be  anointed  for  my  burial.  I  would  like  before  I 
go  hence  to  have  just  one  more  privilege  to  preach  the 
Gospel  with  power."  He  prayed  that  God  would  fill 
him  with  the  Spirit,  and  I  met  him  not  long  after  that, 
and  he  said,  "I  have  preached  on  an  average  eight 
times  a  week,  and  I  have  had  conversions  all  along." 
The  Spirit  came  on  him.  I  don't  believe  that  man  broke 
down  at  first  with  hard  work,  so  much  as  with  using 
the  machinery  without  oil,  without  lubrication.  It  is 
not  the  hard  work  breaks  down  ministers,  but  it  is  the 
toil  of  working  without  power.  Oh,  that  God  may 
4 


50  SECRET  POWER. 


anoint  His  people !  Not  the  ministry  only,  but  every  dis- 
ciple. Do  not  suppose  pastors  are  the  only  laborers 
needing  it.  There  is  not  a  mother  but  needs  it  in  her 
house  to  regulate  her  family,  just  as  much  as  the  minis- 
ter needs  it  in  the  pulpit  or  the  Sunday-school  teacher 
needs  it  in  his  Sunday-school.  We  all  need  it  together, 
and  let  us  not  rest  day  nor  night  until  we  possess  it ; 
if  that  is  the  uppermost  thought  in  our  hearts,  God  will 
give  it  to  us  if  we  just  hunger  and  thirst  for  it,  and  say, 
"God  helping  me,  I  will  not  rest  until  endued  with 
power  from  on  high." 


MASTER    AND    SERVANT. 


There  is  a  very  sweet  story  of  Elijah  and  Elisha,  and 
I  love  to  dwell  upon  it.  The  time  had  come  for  Elijah 
to  be  taken  up,  and  he  said  to  Elisha,  "You  stay  here 
at  Gilgal,  and  I  will  go  up  to  Bethel."  There  was  a 
theological  seminary  there,  and  some  young  students, 
and  he  wanted  to  see  how  they  were  getting  along ;  but 
Elisha  said,  "  As  the  Lord  liveth,  and  thy  soul  liveth, 
I  will  not  leave  thee."  And  so  Elisha  just  kept  close  to 
Elijah.  They  came  to  Bethel,  and  the  sons  of  the 
prophets  came  out  and  said  to  Elisha,  "Do  you  know 
that  your  master  is  to  be  taken  away?"  And  Elisha 
said,  "I  know  it;  but  you  keep  still."  Then  Elijah 
said  to  Elisha,  "You  remain  at  Bethel  until  I  go  to 
Jericho."  But  Elisha  said,  "As  the  Lord  liveth  and 
my  soul  liveth,  I  will  not  leave  thee."  "  You  shall  not 
go  without  me,"  says  Elisha;  and  then  I  can  imagine 
that  Elisha  just  put  his  arm  in  that  of  Elijah,  and  they 
walked  down  together.  I  can  see  those  two  mighty 
men  walking  down  to  Jericho,  and  when  they  arrived 


POW-ER—  "IN"  AND  "UPON."  51 

there,  the  sons  of  the  prophets  came  and  said  to  Elisha, 
"  Do  you  know  that  your  master  is  to  be  taken  away  ?" 
"Hush!  keep  still,"  says  Elisha,  "  1  know  it."  And 
then  Elijah  said  to  Elisha,  "  Tarry  here  awhile  ;  for  the 
Lord  hath  sent  me  to  Jordan."  But  Elisha  said,  "As 
the  Lord  liveth  and  my  soul  liveth,  I  will  not  leave 
thee.  You  shall  not  go  without  me."  And  then  Elisha 
came  right  close  to  Elijah,  and  as  they  went  walking 
down,  I  imagine  Elisha  was  after  something  ;  when  they 
came  to  the  Jordan,  Elijah  took  off  his  mantle  and 
struck  the  waters,  and  they  separated  hither  and  thither, 
and  the  two  passed  through  like  giants,  dry-shod,  and 
fifty  sons  of  the  prophets  came  to  look  at  them  and 
watch  them.  They  didn't  know  but  Elijah  would  be 
taken  up  right  in  their  sight.  As  they  passed  over 
Jordan,  Elijah  said  to  Elisha,  "  Now,  what  do  you 
want?"  He  knew  he  was  after  something.  "What 
can  I  do  for  you.  Just  make  your  request  known." 
And  he  said,  "I  would  like  a  double  portion  of  thy 
Spirit."  I  can  imagine  now  that  Elijah  had  given  him 
a  chance  to  ask;  he  said  to  himself,  "I  will  ask  for 
enough."  Elisha  had  a  good  deal  of  the  Spirit,  but, 
says  he,  "I  want  a  double  portion  of  thy  Spirit." 
"Well,"  says  Elijah,  "if  you  see  me  when  I  am  taken 
up,  you  shall  have  it."  Do  you  think  you  could  have 
enticed  Elisha  from  Elijah  at  that  moment?  I  can  almost 
see  the  two  arm  in  arm,  walking  along,  and  as  they 
walked,  there  came  along  the  chariot  of  fire,  and  before 
Elisha  knew  it,  Elijah  was  caught  up,  and  as  he  went 
sweeping  towards  the  throne,  the  servant  cried,  "  My 
Father !  My  Father !  The  chariot  of  Israel  and  the 
horsemen  thereof!"  Elisha  saw  him  no  more.  He 


52  SECRET  POWER. 


picked  up  Elijah's  fallen  mantle,  and  returning  with  that 
old  mantle  of  his  master's,  he  came  to  the  Jordan  and 
cried  for  Elijah's  God,  and  the  waters  separated  hither 
and  thither,  and  he  passed  through  dry-shod.  Then  the 
watching  prophets  lifted  up  their  voices  and  said,  "The 
Spirit  of  Elijah  is  upon  Elisha;"  and  so  it  was,  a  double 
portion  of  it. 

May  the  Spirit  of  Elijah,  beloved  reader,  be  upon  us. 
If  we  seek  for  it  we  will  have  it.  Oh,  may  the  God  of 
Elijah  answer  by  fire,  and  consume  the  spirit  of  world- 
liness  in  the  churches,  burn  up  the  dross,  and  make  us 
whole-hearted  Christians.  May  that  Spirit  <;ome  upon 
us ;  let  that  be  our  prayer  in  our  family  altars  and  in  our 
closets.  Let  us  cry  mightily  to  God  that  we  may  have  a 
double  portion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  we  may  not 
rest  satisfied  with  this  worldly  state  of  living,  but  let  us, 
like  Sampson,  shake  ourselves  and  come  out  from  the 
world,  that  we  may  have  the  power  of  God. 


CHAPTER  III. 


A  man  may  as  well  hew  marble  without  tools,  or  paint  without 
colors  or  instruments,  or  build  without  materials,  as  perform  any  ac- 
ceptable service  without  the  graces  of  the  Spirit,  which  are  both  the 
materials  and  the  instruments  in  the  work. — Alleine. 

If  we  do  not  have  the  Spirit  of  God,  it  were  better  to  shut  the 
churchi's,  to  nail  up  the  doors,  to  put  a  black  cross  on  them,  and  say, 
"God  have  mercy  on  us!  "  If  you  ministers  have  not  the  Spirit  of 
God,  you  had  better  not  preach,  and  you  people  had'better  stay  at 
home.  I  think  I  speak  not  too  strongly  when  I  say  that  a  church  in 
the  land  without  the  Spirit  of  God  is  rather  a  curse  than  a  blessing. 
If  you  have  not  the  Spirit  of  God,  Christian  worker,  remember  that 
you  stand  in  somebody  else's  way;  you  are  as  a  tree  bearing  no  fruit 
standing  where  another  fruitful  tree  might  grow.  This  is  solemn 
work;  the  Holy  Spirit  or  nothing,  and  worse  than  nothing.  Death 
and  condemnation  lo  a  church  that  is  not  yearning  after  the  Spirit, 
and  crying  and  groaning  until  the  Spirit  has  wrought  mightily  in  her 
midst.  He  is  here;  He  has  never  gone  back  since  He  descended  at 
Pentecost.  He  is  often  grieved  and  vexed,  for  He  is  peculiarly 
jValous  and  sensitive,  and  tho  one  sin  never  forgiven  has  to  do  with 
His  blessed  person;  therefore  let  us  be  very  tender  towards  Him,  walk 
humbly  before  Him,  wait  on  Him  very  earnestly,  and  resolve  that 
about  us  there  should  be  nothing  knowingly  continued  which  should 
prevent  Him  dwelling  in  us,  and  being  with  us  henceforth  and  for- 
ever. Brethren,  peace  be  unto  you  and  your  spirit! — Spurgeon. 


WITNESSING  IN  POWER. 


THE  subject  of  witness-bearing  in  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  not  sufficiently  understood  by  the  Church. 
Until  we  have  more  intelligence  on  this  point  we  are 
laboring  under  great  disadvantage.  Now,  if  you  will 
take  your  Bible  and  turn  to  the  15th  chapter  of  John 
and  the  26th  verse,  you  will  find  these  words  :  "  But 
when  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  send  unto  you 
from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  which  pro- 
ceedeth  from  the  Father,  He  shall  testify  of  me ;  and 
ye  also  shall  bear  witness,  because  ye  have  been  with 
me  from  the  beginning."  Here  we  find  what  the  Spirit 
is  going  to  do,  or  what  Christ  said  He  would  do  when 
He  came;  namely,  that  He  should  testify  of  Him.  And 
if  you  will  turn  over  to  the  second  chapter  of  Acts  you 
will  find  that  when  Peter  stood  up  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, and  testified  of  what  Christ  had  done,  the  Holy 
Spirit  came  down  and  bore  witness  to  that  fact,  and  men 
were  convicted  by  hundreds  and  by  thousands.  So  then 
man  can  not  preach  eifectively  of  himself.  He  must 
have  the  Spirit  of  God  to  give  ability,  and  study  God's 
Word  in  order  to  testify  according  to  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit. 

WHAT   IS   THE   TESTIMONY? 

If  we  keep  back  the  Gospel  of  Christ  and  do  not  bring 
Christ  before  the  people,  then  the  Spirit  has  not  the  oppor- 


56  SECRET  POWER. 


tunity  to  work.  But  the  moment  Peter  stood  up  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost  and  bore  testimony  to  this  one  fact, 
that  Christ  died  for  sin,  and  that  He  had  been  raised 
again,  and  ascended  into  heaven — the  Spirit  came  down 
to  bear  witness  to  the  Person  and  Work  of  Christ. 

He  came  down  to  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that  Christ 
was  in  heaven,  and  if  it  was  not  for  the  Holy  Ghost  bear- 
ing witness  to  the  preaching  of  the  facts  01"  the  Gospel, 
do  you  think  that  the  Church  would  have  lived  during 
these  last  eighteen  centuries  ?  Do  you  believe  that 
Christ's  death,  resurrection  and  ascension  would  not 
have  been  forgotten  as  soon  as  His  birth,  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  fact  that  the  Holy  Spirit  had  come  ? 
Because  it  is  very  clear,  that  when  John  made  his 
appearance  on  the  borders  of  the  wilderness,  they  had 
forgotten  all  about  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ.  Just  thirty 
short  years.  It  was  all  gone.  They  had  forgotten  the 
story  of  the  Shepherds  ;  they  had  forgotten  the  wonder- 
ful scene  that  took  place  in  the  temple,  when  the  Son  of 
God  was  brought  into  the  temple  and  the  older  prophets 
and  prophetesses  were  there ;  they  had  forgotten  about 
the  wise  men  coming  to  Jerusalem  to  inquire  where  He 
was  that  was  born  King  of  the  Jews.  That  story  of  His 
birth  seemed  to  have  just  faded  away ;  they  had  for- 
gotten all  about  it,  and  when  John  made  his  appearance 
on  the  borders  of  the  wilderness  it  was  brought  back  to 
their  minds.  And  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Holy  Ghost 
coming  down  to  bear  witness  to  Christ,  to  testify  of 
His  death  and  resurrection,  these  facts  would  have  been 
forgotten  as  soon  as  His  birth. 


WITNESSING  IN  POWER.  57 


GREATER   WORK. 

The  witness  of  the  Spirit  is  the  witness  of  power. 
Jesus  said,  "  The  works  that  I  do  shall  ye  do  also,  and 
greater  works  than  these  shall  ye  do  because  I  go  to  the 
Father."  I  used  to  stumble  over  that.  I  didn't  under- 
stand it.  I  thought,  what  greater  work  could  any  man 
do  than  Christ  had  done?  How  could  any  one  raise  a 
dead  man  who  had  been  laid  away  in  the  sepulcher  for 
days,  and  who  had  already  begun  to  turn  back  to  dust ; 
how  with  a  word  could  he  call  him  forth  ?  But  the 
longer  I  live  the  more  I  am  convinced  it  is  a  greater 
thing  to  influence  a  man's  will ;  a  man  whose  will  is 
set  against  God  ;  to  have  that  will  broken  and  brought 
into  subjection  to  God's  will — or,  in  other  words,  it  is 
a  greater  thing  to  have  power  over  a  living,  sinning, 
God-hating  man,  than  to  quicken  the  dead.  He  who 
could  create  a  world  could  speak  a  dead  soul  into  life  ; 
but  I  think  the  greatest  miracle  this  world  has  ever 
seen  was  the  miracle  at  Pentecost.  Here  were  men 
who  surrounded  the  Apostles,  full  of  prejudice,  full 
of  malice,  full  of  bitterness,  their  hands,  as  it  were, 
dripping  with  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  yet  an 
unlettered  man,  a  man  whom  they  detested,  a  man 
whom  they  hated,  stands  up  there  and  preaches  the  Gos- 
pel, and  three  thousand  of  them  are  immediately  con- 
victed and  converted,  and  become  disciples  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  are  willing  to  lay  down  their  lives  for 
the  Son  of  God.  It  may  have  been  on  that  occasion 
that  Stephen  was  converted,  the  first  martyr,  and  some 
of  the  men  who  soon  after  gave  up  their  lives  for  Christ. 


58  SECRET  POWER. 


This  seems  to  me  the  greatest  miracle  this  world  has  ever 
seen.  But  Peter  did  not  labor  alone ;  the  Spirit  of  God 
was  with  him ;  hence  the  marvelous  results. 

The  Jewish  law  required  that  there  should  be  two  wit- 
nesses, and  so  we  find  that  when  Peter  preached  there 
was  a  second  witness.  Peter  testified  of  Christ,  and 
Christ  says  when  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  He  will  testify  of 
Me.  And  they  both  bore  witness  to  the  verities  of  our 
Lord's  incarnation,  ministry,  death,  and  resurrection, 
and  the  result  was  that  a  multitude  turned  as  with  one 
heart  unto  the  Lord.  Our  failure  now  is,  that  preachers 
ignore  the  Cross,  and  veil  Christ  with  sapless  sermons 
and  superfine  language.  They  don't  just  present  Him  to 
the  people  plainly,  and  that  is  why,  I  believe,  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  don't  work  with  power  in  our  churches. 
What  we  need  is  to  preach  Christ  and  present  Him  to  a 
perishing  world.  The  world  can  get  on  very  well  with- 
out you  and  me,  but  the  world  can  not  get  on  without 
Christ,  and  therefore  we  must  testify  of  Him,  and  the 
world,  I  believe,  to-day  is  just  hungering  and  thirsting 
for  this  divine,  satisfying  portion.  Thousands  and  thou- 
sands are  sitting  in  darkness,  knowing  not  of  this  great 
Light,  but  when  we  begin  to  preach  Christ  honestly, 
faithfully,  sincerely  and  truthfully ;  holding  Him  up,  not 
ourselves  ;  exalting  Christ  and  not  our  theories ;  present- 
ing Christ  and  not  our  opinions  ;  advocating  Christ  and 
not  some  false  doctrine  ;  then  the  Holy  Ghost  will  come 
and  bear  witness.  He  will  testify  that  what  we  say  is 
true.  When  He  comes  He  will  confirm  the  Word  with 
signs  following.  This  is  one  of  the  strongest  proofs  that 
our  Gospel  is  Divine ;  that  it  is  of  Divine  origin  ;  that 
not  only  did  Christ  teach  these  things,  but  when  leaving 


WITNESSING  IN  POWER.  59 

the  world  He  said,  "He  shall  glorify  Me,"  and  "He 
will  testify  of  Me."  If  you  will  just  look  at  the  second 
chapter  of  Acts — to  that  wonderful  sermon  that  Peter 
preached — the  thirty-sixth  verse,  you  read  these  words: 
'•'  Therefore  let  all  the  house  of  Israel  know  assuredly 
that  God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus  whom  ye  crucified, 
both  Lord  and  Christ."  And  when  Peter  said  this  the 
Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  the  people  and  testified  of 
Christ — bore  witness  in  signal  demonstration  that  all 
this  was  true.  And  again,  in  the  fortieth  verse,  "And 
with  many  other  words  did  He  testify  and  exhort,  say- 
ing, Save  yourselves  from  this  untoward  generation." 
With  many  other  words  did  He  testify,  not  only  these 
words  that  have  been  recorded,  but  many  other  words. 

THE    SUKE   GUIDE. 

Turn  to  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  John,  in  the  thir- 
teenth verse,  and  read:  "  Howbeit,  when  He,  the  Spirit 
of  Truth  is  come,  He  will  guide  you  into  all  truth  ;  for 
He  shall  not  speak  of  Himself;  but  whatsoever  He 
shall  hear  that  shall  He  speak ;  and  He  will  show  you 
things  to  come."  He  will  guide  you  into  all  truth.  Now 
there  is  not  a  truth  that  we  ought  to  know  but  the  Spirit 
of  God  will  guide  us  into  it  if  we  will  let  Him ;  if  we 
will  yield  ourselves  up  to  be  directed  by  the  Spirit, 
and  let  Him  lead  us,  He  will  guide  us  into  all  truth.  It 
would  have  saved  us  from  a  great  many  dark  hours  if 
we  had  only  been  willing  to  let  the  Spirit  of  God  be  our 
counsellor  and  guide. 

Lot  never  would  have  gone  to  Sodom  if  he  had  been 
guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  David  never  would  have 


60  SECRET  POWER. 


fallen  into  sin  and  had  all  that  trouble  with  his  family  if 
he  had  been  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

There  are  many  Lots  and  Davids  now-a-day.  The 
churches  are  full  of  them.  Men  and  women  are  in  total 
darkness,  because  they  have  not  been  willing  to  be 
guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  "He  shall  guide  you 
into  all  truth.  He  shall  not  speak  of  Himself."  He 
shall  speak  of  the  ascended  glorified  Christ. 

What  would  be  thought  of  a  messenger,  entrusted  by 
an  absent  husband  with  a  message  for  his  wife  or  mother 
who,  on  arrival,  only  talked  of  himself,  and  his  conceits, 
and  ignored  both  the  husband  and  the  message  ?  You 
would  simply  call  it  outrageous.  What  then  must  be 
the  crime  of  the  professed  teacher  who  speaks  of  him- 
self, or  some  insipid  theory,  leaving  out  Christ  and  His 
Gospel  ?  If  we  witness  according  to  the  Spirit,  we  must 
witness  of  Jesus. 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  down  here  in  this  dark  world  to 
just  speak  of  the  Absent  One,  and  He  takes  the  things 
of  Christ  and  brings  them  to  our  mind.  He  testifies  of 
Christ ;  He  guides  us  into  the  truth  about  Him. 

EAPPINGS   IN  THE    DARK. 

I  want  to  say  right  here,  that  I  think  in  this  day  a  great 
many  children  of  God  are  turning  aside  and  committing 
a  grievous  sin.  I  don't  know  as  they  think  it  is  a  sin, 
but  if  we  examine  the  Scriptures,  I  am  sure  we  will  find 
that  it  is  a  great  sin.  We  are  told  that  the  Comforter  is 
sent  into  the  world  to  "guide  us  into  all  truth,"  and  if 
He  is  sent  for  that  purpose,  do  we  need  any  other  guide? 
Need  we  hide  in  the  darkness,  consulting  with  mediums, 
who  profess  to  call  up  the  spirits  of  the  dead  ?  Do  you 


WITNESSING  IN  POWER.  61 

know  what  the  "Word  of  God  pronounces  against  that 
fearful  sin  ?  I  believe  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  sins  we 
have  to  contend  with  at  the  present  day.  It  is  dishon- 
oring to  the  Holy  Spirit  for  me  to  go  and  summon  up 
the  dead  and  confer  with  them,  even  if  it  were  possible. 

I  would  like  you  to  notice  the  10th  chapter  of  1st 
Chronicles,  and  13th  verse  :  "So  Saul  died  for  his  trans- 
gression which  he  had  committed  against  the  Lord, 
even  against  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  which  he  kept  not, 
and  also  for  asking  counsel  of  one  that  had  a  familiar 
spirit,  to  inquire  of  it ;  and  inquired  not  of  the  Lord : 
therefore  He  slew  him,  and  turned  the  kingdom  unto 
David  the  son  of  Jesse." 

God  slew  him  for  this  very  sin.  Of  the  two  sins  that 
are  brought  against  Saul  here,  one  is  that  he  would  not 
listen  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  second  is  that  he 
consulted  a  familiar  spirit.  He  was  snared  by  this  great 
evil,  and  sinned  against  God. 

Saul  fell  right  here,  and  there  are  a  great  many  of 
God's  professed  children  to-day  who  think  there  is  no 
harm  in  consulting  a  medium  who  pretends  to  call  up 
some  of  the  departed  to  inquire  of  them. 

But  how  dishonoring  it  is  to  God  who  has  sent  the 
Holy  Spirit  into  this  world  to  guide  us  "into  all  truth." 
There  is  not  a  thing  that  I  need  to  know,  there  is  not  a 
thing  that  is  important  for  me  to  know  ;  there  is  not  a 
thing  that  I  ought  to  know  but  the  Spirit  of  God  will 
reveal  it  to  me  through  the  Word  of  God,  and  if  I  turn 
my  back  upon  the  Holy  Spirit,  I  am  dishonoring  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  I  am  committing  a  grievous  sin. 
You  know  we  read  in  Luke,  where  that  rich  man  in 
the  other  world  wanted  to  have  some  one  sent  to  his 


62  SECRET  POWER. 


father's  house  to  warn  his  five  brothers,  Christ  said 
They  have  Moses  and  the  prophets,  and  if  they  will  not 
hear  them,  they  will  not  hear  one  though  he  rose  from 
the  dead.  Moses  and  the  prophets,  the  part  of  the 
Bible  then  completed,  that  is  enough.  But  a  great 
many  people  now  want  something  besides  the  Word  of 
God,  and  are  turning  aside  to  these  false  lights. 

SPIRITS   THAT    PEEP   AND   MUTTER. 

There  is  another  passage  which  reads,  "And  when 
they  shall  say  unto  you,  seek  unto  them  that  have  fa- 
miliar spirits,  and  unto  wizards  that  peep  and  mutter: 
Should  not  a  people  seek  unto  their  God  ?  for  the  living 
to  the  dead?"  What  is  that  but  table-rapping,  and 
cabinet-hiding  ?  If  it  was  a  message  from  God,  do  you 
think  you  would  have  to  go  into  a  dark  room  and  put 
out  all  the  lights  ?  In  secret  my  Master  taught  nothing. 
God  is  not  in  that  movement,  and  what  we  want,  as  chil 
dren  of  God,  is  to  keep  ourselves  from  this  evil.  And 
then  notice  the  verse  following,  quoted  so  often  out 
of  its  connection.  "To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony; 
if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because 
there  is  no  light  in  them."  Any  man,  any  woman,  who 
comes  to  us  with  any  doctrine  that  is  not  according  to 
the  law  and  the  testimony,  let  us  understand  that  they 
are  from  the  evil  one,  and  that  they  are  enemies  of  right- 
eousness. They  have  no  light  in  them.  Now  you  will 
find  these  people  who  are  consulting  familiar  spirits,  first 
and  last,  attack  the  Word  of  God.  They  don't  believe  it. 
Still  a  great  many  people  say,  you  must  hear  both  sides — 
but  if  a  man  should  write  me  a  most  slanderous  letter 
about  my  wife,  I  don't  think  I  would  have  to  read  it; 


WITNESSING  IN  POWER.  63 

I  should  tear  it  up  and  throw  it  to  the  winds.  Have  I 
to  read  all  the  infidel  books  that  are  written,  to  hear 
both  sides  ?  Have  I  to  take  up  a  book  that  is  a  slan- 
der on  my  Lord  and  Master,  who  has  redeemed  me  with 
His  blood?  Ten  thousand  times  No  ;  I  will  not  touch  it. 
' '  Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the  latter 
times  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to 
seducing  spirits,  and  doctrines  of  devils."  1  Tim.,  iv, 
1.  That  is  pretty  plain  language,  isn't  it?  "Doctrines 
of  devils."  Again,  "speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy;  hav- 
ing their  consciences  seared  with  a  hot  iron."  There-- 
are other  passages  of  Scripture  warning  against  every 
delusion  of  Satan.  Let  us  ever  remember  the  Spirit 
has  been  sent  into  the  world  to  guide  us  into  all  truth. 
We  don't  want  any  other  guide;  He  is  enough.  Some 
people  say,  "Is  not  conscience  a  safer  guide  than  the 
Word  and  the  Spirit?"  No,  it  is  not.  Some  people 
don't  seem  to  have  any  conscience,  and  don't  know  what 
it  means.  Their  education  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with 
conscience.  There  are  persons  who  will  say  that  their 
conscience  did  not  tell  them  that  they  had  done  wrong 
until  after  the  wrong  was  done ;  but  what  we  want,  is 
something  to  tell  us  a  thing  is  wrong  before  we  do  it. 
Very  often  a  man  will  go  and  commit  some  awful  crime, 
and  after  it  is  done  his  conscience  will  wake  up  and  lash 
and  scourge  him,  and  then  it  is  too  late,  the  act  is  done. 

THE   UNERRING   GUIDE. 

I  am  told  by  people  who  have  been  over  the  Alps,  that 
the  guide  fastens  them,  if  they  are  going  in  a  danger- 
ous place,  right  to  himself,  and  he  just  goes  on  before; 
they  are  fastened  to  the  guide. 


64  SECRET  POWER. 


And  so  should  the  Christian  be  linked  to  His  unerr- 
ing Guide,  and  be  safely  upheld.  Why,  if  a  man  was 
going  through  the  Mammoth  Cave,  it  would  be  death  to 
him  if  he  strayed  away  from  his  guide — if  separated 
from  him,  he  would  certainly  perish  ;  there  are  pitfalls 
in  that  cave  and  a  bottomless  river,  and  there  would  be 
no  chance  for  a  man  to  find  his  way  through  that  cave 
without  a  guide  or  a  light.  So  there  is  no  chance 
for  us  to  get  through  the  dark  wilderness  of  this  world 
alone.  It  is  folly  for  a  man  or  woman  to  think  that  they 
can  get  through  this  evil  world  without  the  light  of 
God's  Word  and  the  guidance  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 
God  sent  Him  to  guide  us  through  this  great  journey, 
and  if  we  seek  to  work  independent  of  Him,  we  shall 
stumble  into  the  deep  darkness  of  eternity's  night. 

But  bear  in  mind  the  Words  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  if 
you  want  to  be  guided,  you  must  study  the  Word ; 
because  the  Word  is  the  light  of  the  Spirit.  In  the  14th 
chapter  of  John  and  26th  verse,  we  read : 

"But  the  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom 
the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  He  shall  teach  you  all 
things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance,  what- 
soever I  have  said  unto  you." 

Again  in  John  xvi,  13  : 

"Howbeit  when  He,  the  Spirit  of  Truth^  is  come,  He 
will  guide  you  into  all  truth  :  for  He  shall  not  speak  of 
Himself;  but  whatsoever  He  shall  hear,  that  shall  He 
speak  :  and  He  will  show  you  things  to  come." 

"He  will  show  you  things  to  come."  A  great  many 
people  seem  to  think  that  the  Bible  is  out  of  date,  that 
it  is  an  old  book,  and  they  think  it  has  passed  its  day. 
They  say  it  was  very  good  for  the  dark  ages,  and  that 


WITNESSING  IN  POWER.  65 

there  is  some  very  good  history  in  it ;  but  then  it  was 
not  intended  for  the  present  time  ;  that  we  are  living  in 
a  very  enlightened  age,  and  that  men  can  get  on  very 
well  without  the  old  book ;  that  we  have  outgrown  it. 
They  think  we  have  no  use  for  it,  because  it  is  an  old 
book.  Now  you  might  just  as  well  say  that  the  sun, 
which  has  shone  so  long,  is  now  so  old  that  it  is  out  of 
date,  and  that  whenever  a  man  builds  a  house  he  need 
not  put  any  windows  in  it,  because  we  have  got  a  newer 
light  and  a  better  light ;  we  have  gaslight  and  this  new 
electric  light.  These  are  something  new  ;  and  I  would 
advise  people,  if  they  think  the  Bible  is  too  old  and 
worn  out,  when  they  build  houses,  not  to  put  any  win- 
dows in  them,  but  just  to  light  them  with  this  new  electric 
light ;  that  is  something  new,  and  this  is  what  they 
are  anxious  for.  People  talk  about  this  Book  as  if  they 
understood  it ;  but  we  don't  know  much  about  it  yet. 
The  press  gives  us  the  daily  news  of  what  has  taken 
place.  This  Bible,  however,  tells  us  what  is  about  to 
take  place.  This  is  new ;  we  have  the  news  here  in 
this  Book ;  this  tells  us  of  the  things  that  will  surely 
come  to  pass ;  and  that  is  a  great  deal  newer  than  any- 
thing in  the  newspapers.  It  tells  us  that  the  Spirit 
shall  teach  us  all  things  ;  not  only  guide  us  into  aU 
truth,  but  teach  us  all  things ;  He  teaches  us  how  to 
pray,  and  I  don't  think  there  has  ever  been  a  prayer 
upon  this  sin-cursed  earth  that  has  been  indicted  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  but  was  answered.  There  is  much  praying 
that  is  not  indicted  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  former  years 
I  was  very  ambitious  to  get  rich  ;  I  used  to  pray  for  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars ;  that  was  my  aim,  and  I  used 
to  say,  "God  does  not  answer  my  prayer;  He  does  not 
5 


66  SECRET  POWER. 


make  me  rich."  But  I  had  no  warrant  for  such  a 
prayer ;  jet  a  good  many  people  pray  in  that  way ; 
they  think  that  they  pray,  but  they  do  not  pray  accord- 
ing to  the  Scriptures.  The  Spirit  of  God  has  nothing 
to  do  with  their  prayers,  and  such  prayers  are  not  the 
product  of  His  teaching. 

It  is  the  Spirit  who  teaches  us  how  to  answer  our 
enemies.  If  a  man  strikes  me,  I  should  not  pull  out  a 
revolver  and  shoot  him.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  don't 
teach  me  revenge  ;  He  don't  teach  me  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  draw  the  sword  and  cut  a  man  down  in  order  to 
defend  my  rights.  Some  people  say,  You  are  a  coward 
if  you  don't  strike  back.  Christ  says,  turn  the  other 
cheek  to  him  who  smites.  I  would  rather  take  Christ's 
teaching  than  any  other.  I  don't  think  a  man  gains 
much  by  loading  himself  down  with  weapons  to  defend 
himself.  There  has  been  life  enough  sacrificed  in  this 
country  to  teach  men  a  lesson  in  this  regard.  The 
Word  of  God  is  a  much  better  protection  than  the 
revolver.  We  had  better  take  the  Word  of  God  to 
protect  us,  by  accepting  its  teaching,  and  living  out  its 
precepts. 

AN   AID   TO   MEMORY. 

It  is  a  great  comfort  to  us  to  remember  that  another 
office  of  the  Spirit  is  to  bring  the  teaching  of  Jesus  to 
our  remembrance.  This  was  our  Lord's  promise,  "  He 
shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your 
remembrance."  Jno.  xiv,  26. 

How  striking  that  is.  I  think  there  are  many  Christ- 
ians who  have  had  that  experience.  They  have  been 
testifying,  and  found  that  while  talking  for  Christ  ihe 


WITNESSING  IN  POWER.  67 

Spirit  has  just  brought  into  mind  some  of  the  sayings 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  their  mind  was  soon  filled 
with  the  Word  of  God.  "When  we  have  the  Spirit  rest- 
ing upon  us,  we  can  speak  with  authority  and  power, 
and  the  Lord  will  bless  our  testimony  and  bless  our 
work.  I  believe  the  reason  why  God  makes  use  of  so  few 
in  the  Church,  is  because  there  is  not  in  them  the  power 
that  God  can  use.  He  is  not  going  to  use  our  ideas,  but 
we  must  have  the  Word  of  God  hid  in  our  hearts,  and 
then,  the  Holy  Spirit  inflaming  us,  we  will  have  the 
testimony  which  will  be  rich,  and  sweet,  and  fresh,  and 
the  Lord's  Word  will  vindicate  itself  in  blessed  results. 
God  wants  to  use  us ;  God  wants  to  make  us  channels 
of  blessing ;  but  we  are  in  such  a  condition  He  does  not 
use  us.  That  is  the  trouble ;  there  are  so  many  men 
who  have  no  testimony  for  the  Lord ;  if  they  speak, 
they  speak  without  saying  anything,  and  if  they  pray, 
their  prayer  is  powerless  ;  they  do  not  plead  in  prayer ; 
their  prayer  is  just  a  few  set  phrases  that  you  have 
heard  too  often.  Now  what  we  want,  is  to  be  so  full  of 
the  Word,  that  the  Spirit  coming  upon  us  shall  bring 
to  mind — bring  to  our  remembrance — the  words  of  the 
Lord  Jesus. 

In  1  Cor.  ii,  9,  it  is  written:  "Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor 
ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man 
the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love 
Him." 

We  hear  that  quoted  so  often  in  prayer — many  a  man 
weaves  it  into  his  prayer  and  stops  right  there.  And 
the  moment  you  talk  about  Heaven,  they  say,  "Oh,  we 
don't  know  anything  about  Heaven  ;  it  hath  not  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man ;  eye  hath  not  seen  ;  it  is  all 


68  SECRET  POWER. 


speculation;  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  it;'  and  they 
say  they  quote  it  as  it  is  written."  "  Eye  hath  not  seen, 
nor  ear  heard  ;  neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of 
man  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that 
love  Him."  What  next — "but  God  hath  revealed 
them  unto  us  by  His  Spirit."  You  see  the  Lord  hath 
revealed  them  unto  us:  "For  the  Spirit  searches  all 
things — yea,  the  deep  things  of  God."  That  is  just 
what  the  Spirit  does. 

LONG   AND    SHORT    SIGHT. 

He  brings  to  our  mind  what  God  has  in  store  for  us. 
I  heard  a  man,  some  time  ago,  speaking  about  Abra- 
ham. He  said  "Abraham  was  not  tempted  by  the  well- 
watered  plains  of  Sodom,  for  Abraham  was  what  you 
might  call  a  long-sighted  man ;  he  had  his  eyes  set  on 
the  city  which  had  foundation — 'whose  Builder  and 
Maker  is  God.''  But  Lot  was  a  short-sighted  man; 
and  there  are  many  people  in  the  Church  who  are 
very  short-sighted ;  they  only  see  things  right  around 
them  they  think  good.  Abraham  was  long-sighted  ;  he 
had  glimpses  of  the  celestial  city.  Moses  was  long- 
sighted, and  he  left  the  palaces  of  Egypt  and  iden- 
tified himself  with  God's  people — poor  people,  who 
were  slaves  ;  but  he  had  something  in  view  yonder  ;  he 
could  see  something  God  had  in  store.  Again  there  are 
some  people  who  are  sort  of  long-sighted  and  short- 
sighted, too.  I  have  a  friend  who  has  one  eye  that  is 
long-sighted  and  the  other  is  short-sighted;  and  I  think 
the  Church  is  full  of  this  kind  of  people.  They  want 
one  eye  for  the  world  and  the  other  for  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  Therefore,  everything  is  blurred,  one  eye 


WITNESSING  IN  POWER.  69 

is  long  and  the  other  is  short,  all  is  confusion,  and  they 
"  see  men  as  trees  walking."  The  Church  is  filled  with 
that  sort  of  people.  But  Stephen  was  long-sighted  ;  he 
leaked  clear  into  heaven ;  they  couldn't  convince  him 
even  when  he  was  dying,  that  Christ  had  not  ascended  to 
heaven.  "Look,  look  yonder,"  he  says,  "I  see  Him 
over  there ;  He  is  on  the  throne,  standing  at  the  right 
hand  of  God;"  and  he  looked  clear  into  heaven  ;  the 
world  had  no  temptation  for  him  ;  he  had  put  the  world 
under  his  feet.  Paul  was  another  of  those  long-sighted 
men ;  he  had  been  caught  up  and  seen  things  unlawful 
for  him  to  utter ;  things  grand  and  glorious.  I  tell  you 
when  the  Spirit  of  God  is  on  us  the  world  looks  very 
empty ;  the  world  has  a  very  small  hold  upon  us,  and  we 
begin  to  let  go  our  hold  of  it.  When  the  Spirit  of  God 
is  on  us  we  will  just  let  go  the  things  of  time  and  lay 
hold  of  things  eternal.  This  is  the  Church's  need  to-day  ; 
we  want  the  Spirit  to  come  in  mighty  power,  and  con- 
sume all  the  vile  dross  there  is  in  us.  Oh  !  that  the  Spirit 
of  fire  may  come  down  and  burn  everything  in  us  that  is 
contrary  to  God's  blessed  Word  and  Will. 

In  John  xiv,  16,  we  read  of  the  Comforter.  This  is 
the  first  time  He  is  spoken  of  as  the  Comforter.  Christ 
had  been  their  Comforter.  God  had  sent  Him  to  com- 
fort the  sorrowing.  It  was  prophesied  of  Him,  "The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  He  hath  anointed 
me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor;  He  has  sent  me 
to  heal  the  broken-hearted."  You  can't  heal  the  broken- 
hearted without  the  Comforter  ;  but  the  world  would  not 
have  the  first  Comforter,  and  so  they  rose  up  and  took 
Him  to  Calvary  and  put  him  to  death  ;  but  on  going 
away  He  said,  "I  will  send  you  another  Comforter;  you 


70  SECRET  POWER. 


shall  not  be  comfortless;  be  of  good  cheer,  little  flock; 
it  is  the  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  king- 
dom." All  these  sweet  passages  are  brought  to  the 
remembrance  of  God's  people,  and  they  help  us  to  rise 
out  of  the  fog  and  mist  of  this  world.  O,  what  a  com- 
forter is  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God ! 

THE   FAITHFUL   FRIEND. 

The  Holy  Spirit  tells  a  man  of  his  faults  in  order  to 
lead  him  to  a  better  life.  In  John  xvi,  8,  we  read : 
"He  is  to  reprove  the  world  of  sin."  Now,  there  area 
class  of  people  who  don't  like  this  part  of  the  Spirit's 
work.  Do  you  know  why  ?  Because  lie  convicts  them 
of  sin;  they  don't  like  that.  What  they  want  is  some 
one  to  speak  comforting  words  and  make  everything 
pleasant;  keep  everything  all  quiet;  tell  them  there 
is  peace  when  there  is  war ;  tell  them  it  is  light  when  it 
is  dark,  and  tell  them  everything  is  growing  better; 
that  the  world  is  getting  on  amazingly  in  goodness  ;  that 
it  is  growing  better  all  the  time ;  that  is  the  kiiid  of 
preaching  they  seek  for.  Men  think  they  are  a  great 
deal  better  than  their  fathers  were.  That  suits  human 
nature,  for  it  is  full  of  pride.  Men  will  strut  around 
and  say,  "  Yes,  I  believe  that;  the  world  is  improving; 
I  am  a  good  deal  better  man  than  father  was  ;  my  father 
was  too  strict ;  he  was  one  of  those  old  Puritanical  men 
who  was  so  rigid.  O,  we  are  getting  on  ;  we  are  more 
liberal ;  my  father  wouldn't  think  of  going  out  riding  on 
Sunday,  but  we  will ;  we  will  trample  the  laws  of  God 
under  our  feet ;  we  are  better  than  our  fathers." 

That  is  the  kind  of  preaching  which  some  dearly  love, 


WITNESSING  IN  POWER.  71 

and  there  are  preachers  who  tickle  sueh  itching  ears. 
When  you  bring  the  Word  of  God  to  bear  upon  them, 
and  when  the  Spirit  drives  it  home,  then  men  will 
say:  "I  don't  like  that  kind  of  preaching;  I  will 
never  go  to  hear  that  man  again;"  and  sometimes 
they  will  get  up  and  stamp  their  way  out  of  church 
before  the  speaker  gets  through  ;  they  don't  like  it. 
But  when  the  Spirit  of  God  is  at  work  he  convicts 
men  of  sin.  "When  He  comes  He  will  reprove  the 
world  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment;  of  sin  " 
— not  because  men  swear  and  lie  and  steal  and  get 
drunk  and  murder — "  of  sin  because  they  believe  not  on 
Me." 

THE    CLIMAX    SIN. 

That  is  the  sin  of  the  world.  Why,  a  great  many  peo- 
ple think  that  unbelief  is  a  sort  of  misfortune,  but  do  not 
know,  if  you  will  allow  me  the  expression,  it  is  the 
damning  sin  of  the  world  to-day ;  that  is  what  unbelief 
is,  the  mother  of  all  sin.  There  would  not  be  a  drunk- 
ard walking  the  streets,  if  it  were  not  for  unbelief;  there 
would  not  be  a  harlot  walking  the  streets,  if  it  were  not 
for  unbelief;  there  would  not  be  a  murderer,  if  it  was 
not  for  unbelief ;  it  is  the  germ  of  all  sin.  Don't  think  for 
a  moment  that  it  is  a  misfortune,  but  just  bear  in  mind 
it  is  an  awful  sin,  and  may  the  Holy  Spirit  convict  evc'ry 
reader  that  unbelief  is  making  God  a  liar.  Many  a  man 
has  been  knocked  down  on  the  streets  because  some  one 
has  told  him  he  was  a  liar.  Unbelief  is  giving  God  the 
lie  ;  that  is  the  plain  English  of  it.  Some  people  seem 
to  boast  of  their  unbelief;  they  seem  to  think  it  is  quite 


72  SECRET  POWER. 


respectable  to  be  an  infidel  and  doubt  God's  "\Vord,  and 
they  will  vainly  boast  and  say,  "  I  have  intellectual  dif- 
ficulties; I  can't  believe."  Oh  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
may  come  and  convict  men  of  sin!  That  is  what  we 
need — His  convicting  power,  and  I  am  so  thankful  that 
God  has  not  put  that  into  our  hands.  We  have  not  to 
convict  men ;  if  we  had  I  would  get  discouraged,  and 
give  up  preaching,  and  go  back  to  business  within  the 
next  forty-eight  hours.  It  is  my  work  to  preach  and 
hold  up  the  Cross  and  testify  of  Christ ;  but  it  is  His 
work  to  convict  men  of  sin  and  lead  them  to  Christ. 
One  thing  I  have  noticed,  that  some  conversions  don't 
amount  to  anything ;  that  if  a  man  professes  to  be 

converted  without  conviction  of  sin,  he  is  one  of  those 

& 

stony-ground  hearers  who  don't  bring  forth  much  fruit. 
The  first  little  wave  of  persecution,  the  first  breath  of 
opposition,  and  the  man  is  back  in  the  world  again.  Let 
us  pray,  dear  Christian  reader,  that  God  may  carry  on 
a  deep  and  thorough  work,  that  men  may  be  convicted 
of  sin  so  that  they  can  not  rest  in  unbelief.  Let  us 
pray  God  it  may  be  a  thorough  work  in  the  land.  I 
would  a  great  deal  rather  see  a  hundred  men  thoroughly- 
converted,  truly  born  of  God,  than  to  see  a  thousand  pro- 
fessed conversions  where  the  Spirit  of  God  has  not  con- 
victed of  sin.  Don't  let  us  cry  "  Peace,  peace,  when  there 
is  no  peace."  Don't  go  to  the  man  who  is  living  in  sin, 
and  tell  him  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  stand  right  up  and 
profess,  without  any  hatred  for  sin.  Let  us  ask  God 
first  to  show  every  man  the  plague  of  his  own  heart, 
that  the  Spirit,  may  convict  them  of  sin.  Then  will  the 
work  in  our  hands  be  real,  and  deep,  and  abide  the  fiery 
trial  which  will  try  every  man's  labor. 


WITNESSING  IN  POWER.  73 

Thus  far,  we  have  found  the  work  of  the  Spirit  is  to 
impart  life,  to  implant  hope,  to  give  liberty,  to  testify  of 
Christ,  to  guide  us  into  all  truth,  to  teach  us  all  things, 
to  comfort  the  believers,  and  to  convict  the  world  of 
sin. 

"  Holy  Spirit,  faithful  guide, 
Ever  near  the  Christian's  side; 
Gently  lead  us  by  the  hand, 
Pilgrims  in  a  desert  land; 
Weary  souls  for  e'er  rejoice, 
While  they  hear  that  sweetest  voice, 
Whisp'ring  softly,  wanderer  come! 
Follow  Me,  I'll  guide  thee  home. 

"  Ever  present,  truest  Friend, 
Ever  near  Thine  aid  to  lend, 
Leave  us  not  to  doubt  and  fear, 
Groping  on  in  darkness  drear, 
When  the  storms  are  raging  sore, 
Hearts  grow  faint,  and  hopes  give  o'er; 
Whisp'ring  softly,  wanderer  come! 
Follow  Me,  I'll  guide  thee  home. 

"  When  our  days  of  toil  shall  cease, 
Waiting  still  for  sweet  release. 
Nothing  left  but  heaven  and  prayer, 
Wond'ring  if  our  names  were  there, 
Wading  deep  the  dismal  flood, 
Pleading  nought  but  Jesus'  blood; 
Whisp'ring  softly,  wanderer  come! 
Follow  Me,  I'll  guide  the  home. 


H!  Spirit  of  God,  whose  voice  I  hear, 
Sweeter  than  sweetest  music,  appealing 
In  tones  of  tenderness  and  love; 

Whose  comforts  delight  my  soul,  and 

Fills  the  temple  of  my  heart  with  joy  beyond  compare. 

I  need  Thee  day  by  day,  and  each  day'*  moment,  Lord. 

I  sigh  for  greater  likeness 

To  Him  who  loved  me  unto  death,  and  loves  me  still. 

'Tis  Thine  to  lead  me  to  Him ;  'tis  Thine  to  ope  the  eye, 

To  manifest  His  royal  glories  to  my  longing  heart; 

'Tis  Thine  the  slumbering  saint  to  waken 

And  discipline  this  blood-touched  ear 

To  hearken  to  my  heavenly  Lover's  voice, 

And  quickly  speed  His  summons  to  obey. 

Oh!  Spirit  of  the  Mighty  God,  uplift  my  faith 

Till  heaven's  precious  light  shall  flood  my  soul, 

And  the  shining  of  my  face  declare 

That  I  have  seen  the  face  of  God." 


7! 


CHAPTER  IV. 


POWER  IN  OPERATION. 


"  Ye  are  not  your  own.11  "  Your  bodies  are  the  temples  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  Is  that  an  unmeaning  metaphor,  or  an  over-worded  ex- 
pression? When  the  Holy  Spirit  enters  the  soul,  heaven  enters  with 
Him.  The  heart  is  compared  to  a  temple.  God  never  enters  without 
His  attendants;  repentance  cleanses  the  house;  faith  provides  for  the 
house;  watchfulness,  like  the  porter,  takes  care  of  it;  prayer  is  a 
lively  messenger,  learns  what  is  wanted,  and  then  goes  for  it;  faith 
tells  him  where  to  go,  and  he  never  goes  in  vain;  Joy  is  the  musician 
of  this  temple,  tuning  to  the  praises  of  God  and  the  Lamb;  and  this 
terrestrial  temple  shall  be  removed  to  the  celestial  world,  for  the 
trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised. — Rowland  Hill. 


POWER  IN  OPERATION. 


THE  power  we  have  been  considering  is  the  Presence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  He  is  omnipotent.  Power  in  opera- 
tion is  the  actions  of  the  Spirit  or  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit. 
This  we  shall  now  consider.  Paul  writes  in  Gal.  v,  16, 
etc.: 

"  This  I  say  then,  walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall  not 
fulfill  the  lust  of  the  flesh.  For  the  flesh  lusteth 
against  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh ;  and 
these  are  contrary,  the  one  to  the  other ;  so  that  ye  can 
not  do  the  things  that  ye  would.  But  if  ye  be  led  of 
the  Spirit,  ye  are  not  under  the  law. "  *  *  *  But 
the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffer- 
ing, gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance; 
against  such  there  is  no  law.  And  they  that  are  Christ's 
have  crucified  the  flesh  with  the  affections  and  lusts. 
If  we  live  in  the  Spirit,  let  us  also  walk  in  the  Spirit. 
Let  us  not  be  desirous  of  vainglory,  provoking  one 
another,  envying  one  another." 

Now  there  is  a  life  of  perfect  peace,  perfect  joy,  and 
perfect  love,  and  that  ought  to  be  the  aim  of  every 
child  of  God ;  that  ought  to  be  their  standard ;  and 
they  should  not  rest  until  having  attained  to  that  posi- 
tion. That  is  God's  standard,  where  He  wants  all  His 
children.  These  nine  graces  mentioned  in  this  chapter 
in  Galatians  can  be  divided  in  this  way :  Love  and 


77 


'8  SECRET  POWER. 


peace  and  joy  are  all  to  God.  God  looks  for  that  fruit 
from  each  one  of  His  children,  and  that  is  the  kind  of 
fruit  which  is  acceptable  with  Him.  Without  that  we 
can  not  please  God.  He  wants,  above  everything  else 
that  we  possess,  love,  peace  and  joy.  And  then  the 
next  three — goodness,  long-suffering  and  gentleness — 
are  towards  man.  That  is  our  outward  life  to  those 
that  we  are  coming  in  contact  with  continually — daily, 
hourly.  The  next  three — faith,  temperance,  meekness 
— are  in  relation  to  ourselves  ;  and  in  that  way  we  can  just 
take  the  three  divisions,  and  it  will  be  of  some  help  to  us. 
The  first  thing  that  meets  us  as  we  enter  the  king- 
dom of  God,  you  might  say  are  these  first  three  graces, 

LOVE,    PEACE,    AND   JOY. 

"When  a  man  who  has  been  living  in  sin  turns  from 
his  sins,  and  turns  to  God  with  all  his  heart,  he  is 
met  on  the  threshold  of  the  divine  life  by  these  sister 
graces.  The  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  his  heart  by 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  peace  of  God  comes  at  the  same 
time,  and  also  the  joy  of  the  Lord.  We  can  all  put  the 
test  to  ourselves,  if  we  have  them.  It  is  not  anything 
that  we  can  make.  The  great  trouble  with  many  is  that 
they  are  trying  to  make  these  graces.  They  are  trying 
to  make  love  ;  they  are  trying  to  make  peace ;  they  are 
trying  to  make  joy.  But  they  arc  not  creatures  of 
human  planting.  To  produce  them  of  ourselves  is  im- 
possible. That  is  an  act  of  God.  They  come  from 
above.  It  is  God  who  speaks  the  word  and  gives  the 
love ;  it  is  God  who  gives  the  peace ;  it  is  God  who 
gives  the  joy,  and  we  possess  all  by  receiving  Jesus 
Christ  by  faith  into  the  heart ;  for  when  Christ  comes 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  79 

by  faith  into  the  heart,  then  the  Spirit  is  there,  and  if 
we  have  the  Spirit,  we  will  have  the  fruit. 

If  the  whole  Church  of  God  could  live  as  the  Lord 
would  have  them  live,  why  Christianity  would  be  the 
mightiest  power  this  world  has  ever  seen.  It  is  the  low 
standard  of  Christian  life  that  is  causing  so  much 
trouble.  There  are  a  great  many  stunted  Christians  in 
the  Church  ;  their  lives  are  stunted  ;  they  are  like  a  tree 
planted  in  poor  soil — the  soil  is  hard  and  stony,  and  the 
roots  can  not  find  the  rich  loamy  soil  needed.  Such  be- 
lievers have  not  grown  in  these  sweet  graces.  Peter,  in 
his  second  epistle,  1st  chapter  and  5th  verse,  writes: 

"And  besides  this,  giving  all  diligence,  add  to  your 
faith  virtue ;  and  to  virtue  knowledge ;  and  to  know- 
ledge temperance  ;  and  to  temperance  patience  ;  and  to 
patience,  godliness ;  and  to  godliness,  brotherl}'  kind- 
ness ;  and  to  brotherly  kindness,  charity.  For  if  these 
things  be  in  you  and  abound,  they  make  you  that  ye 
shall  neither  be  barren  nor  unfruitful  in  the  knowledge 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Now,  if  we  have  these  things  in  us,  I  believe  that  we 
will  be  constantly  bringing  forth  fruit  that  will  be  ac- 
ceptable with  God.  It  won't  be  just  a  little  every  now 
and  then,  when  we  spur  ourselves  up  and  work  ourselves 
up  into  a  certain  state  of  mind  or  into  an  excited  condi- 
tion, and  work  a  little  while  and  then  become  cold,  and 
discouraged,  and  disheartened,  but  we  shall  be  neither 
unfruitful  nor  barren,  bringing  forth  fruit  constantly,  we 
will  grow  in  grace  and  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God. 

WHAT  WINS. 
A  great  many  parents  have  inquired  of  me  how  to  win 


80  SECRET  POWER. 


their  children.  They  say  they  have  talked  with  them, 
and  sometimes  they  have  scolded  them  and  have  lec- 
tured them,  and  signally  failed.  I  think  there  is  no 
way  so  sure  to  win  our  families  and  our  neighbors,  and 
those  about  whom  we  are  anxious,  to  Christ,  than  just 
to  adorn  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ  in  our  lives,  and 
grow  in  all  these  graces.  If  we  have  peace  and  joy 
and  love  and  gentleness  and  goodness  and  temperance ; 
not  only  being  temperate  in  what  we  drink,  but  in  what 
we  eat,  and  temperate  in  our  language,  guarded  in  our 
expressions ;  if  we  just  live  in  our  homes  as  the  Lord 
would  have  us,  an  even  Christian  life  day  by  day,  we 
shall  have  a  quiet  and  silent  power  proceeding  from  us, 
that  will  constrain  them  to  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  But  an  uneven  life,  hot  to-day  and  cold  to- 
morrow, will  only  repel.  Many  are  watching  God's 
people.  It  is  just  the  very  worst  thing  that  can 
happen  to  those  whom  we  want  to  win  to  Christ, 
to  see  us,  at  any  time,  in  a  cold,  backslidden  state.  This 
is  not  the  normal  condition  of  the  Church ;  it  is  not 
God's  intention ;  He  would  have  us  growing  in  all  these 
graces,  and  the  only  true,  happy,  Christian  life  is  to 
be  growing,  constantly  growing  in  the  love  and  favor  of 
God,  growing  in  all  those  delightful  graces  of  the  Spirit. 
Even  the  vilest,  the  most  impure,  acknowledge  the 
power  of  goodness  ;  they  recognize  the  fruit  of  the 
Spirit.  It  may  condemn  their  lives  and  cause  them  to 
say  bitter  things  at  times,  but  down  deep  in  their  hearts 
they  know  that  the  man  or  woman  who  is  living  that 
kind  of  life,  is  superior  to  them.  The  world  don't  satisfy 
them,  and  if  we  can  show  the  world  that  Jesus  Christ 
does  satisfy  us  in  our  present  life,  it  will  be  more  power- 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  81 

ful  than  the  eloquent  words  of  professional  reformers. 
A  man  may  preach  with  the  eloquence  of  an  angel,  but 
if  he  don't  live  what  he  preaches,  and  act  out  in  his 
home  and  his  business  what  he  professes,  his  testimony 
goes  for  naught,  and  the  people  say  it  is  all  hypocrisy 
after  all ;  it  is  all  a  sham.  Words  are  very  empty,  if 
there  is  nothing  back  of  them.  Your  testimony  is  poor 
and  worthless,  if  there  is  not  a  record  back  of  that  testi- 
mony consistent  with  what  you  profess.  What  we  need 
is  to  pray  to  God  to  lift  us  up  out  of  this  low,  cold,  for- 
mal state  that  we  have  been  living  in,  that  we  may  live 
in  the  atmosphere  of  God  continually,  and  that  the  Lord 
may  lift  upon  us  the  light  of  his  countenance,  and  that  we 
may  shine  in  this  world,  reflecting  His  grace  and  glory. 
The  first  of  the  graces  spoken  of  in  Galatians,  and  the 
last  mentioned  in  Peter,  is  charity  or  love.  We  can  not 
serve  God,  we  can  not  work  for  God  unless  we  have 
love.  That  is  the  key  which  unlocks  the  human  heart. 
If  I  can  prove  to  a  man  that  I  come  to  him  out  of  pure 
love ;  if  a  mother  shows  by  her  actions  that  it  is  pure 
love  that  prompts  her  advising  her  boy  to  lead  a  differ- 
ent life,  not  a  selfish  love,  but  that  it  is  for  the  glory  of 
God,  it  won't  be  long  before  that  mother's  influence  will 
be  felt  by  that  boy,  and  he  will  begin  to  think  about  this 
matter,  because  true  love  touches  the  heart  quicker  than 
anything  else. 

POWER   OF   LOVE. 

Love  is   the  badge   that   Christ  gave   His  disciples. 

Some  put  on  one  sort  of  badge  and  some  another.   Some 

put  on  a  strange  kind  of  dress,  that  they  may  be  known 

as  Christians,  and  some  put  on  a  crucifix,  or  something 

6 


82  SECRET  POWER. 


else,  that  they  may  be  known  as  Christians.  But  love 
is  the  only  badge  by  which  the  disciples  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  are  known.  "  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye 
are  My  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  toward  another." 

Therefore,  though  a  man  stand  before  an  audience 
and  speak  with  the  eloquence  of  a  Demosthenes,  or  of  the 
greatest  living  orator,  if  there  is  no  love  back  of  his 
words,  it  is  like  sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal. 
I  would  recommend  all  Christians  to  read  the  thirteenth 
chapter  of  First  Corinthians  constantly,  abiding  in  it  day 
and  night,  not  spending  a  night  or  a  day  there,  but  just 
go  in  there  and  spend  all  our  time — summer  and  winter, 
twelve  months  in  the  year,  then  the  power  of  Christ  and 
Christianity  would  be  felt  as  it  never  has  been  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  See  what  this  chapter  says  : 

"Though  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  an- 
gels, and  have  not  charity,  I  am  become  as  sounding 
brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal.  And  though  I  have  the  gift 
of  prophecy,  and  understand  all  mysteries,  and  all  knowl- 
edge ;  and  though  I  have  all  faith,  so  that  I  could 
remove  mountains,  and  have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing." 

A  great  many  are  praying  for  faith  ;  they  want  extra- 
ordinary faith ;  they  want  remarkable  faith.  They 
forget  that  love  exceeds  faith.  The  CHARITY  spoken 
of  in  the  above  verses,  is  LOVE,  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit, 
the  great  motive-power  of  life.  What  the  Church  of 
God  needs  to-day  is  love — more  love  to  God  and  more 
love  to  our  fellow-men.  If  we  love  God  more,  we  will 
love  our  fellow-men  more.  There  is  no  doubt  about 
that.  I  used  to  think  that  I  should  like  to  have  lived 
in  the  days  of  the  prophets;  that  I  should  like  to  have 
been  one  of  the  prophets,  to  prophesy,  and  to  see  the 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  83 

beauties  of  heaven  and  describe  them  to  men ;  but,  as  I 
understand  the  Scriptures  now,  I  would  a  good  deal  rather 
live  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  1st  Corinthians  and  have 
this  love  that  Paul  is  speaking  of,  the  love  of  God  burn- 
ing in  my  soul  like  an  unquenchable  flame,  so  that  I  may 
reach  men  and  win  them  for  heaven. 

A  man  may  have  wonderful  knowledge,  that  may 
unravel  the  mysteries  of  the  Bible,  and  yet  be  as  cold 
as  an  icicle.  He  may  glisten  like  the  snow  in  the  sun. 
Sometimes  you  have  wondered  why  it  was  that  certain 
ministers  who  have  had  such  wonderful  magnetism,  who 
have  such  a  marvelous  command  of  language,  and  who 
preach  with  such  mental  strength,  haven't  had  more  con- 
versions. I  believe,  if  the  truth  was  known,  you  would 
find  no  divine  love  back  of  their  words,  no  pure  love  in 
their  sermons.  You  may  preach  like  an  angel,  Paul  says, 
"  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,  "but  if  you  have 
not  love,  it  amounts  to  nothing.  "And  though  I  bestow 
all  rny  goods  to  feed  the  poor," — a  man  may  be  very 
charitable,  and  give  away  all  his  goods  ;  a  man  may 
give  all  he  has,  but  if  it  is  not  the  love  of  God  which 
prompts  the  gift,  it  will  not  be  acceptable  with  God. 
"And  though  1  give  my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have 
not  charity" — have  not  love — "it  profiteth  me  noth- 
ing." A  man  may  go  to  the  stake  for  his  principles ;  he 
may  go  to  the  stake  for  what  he  believes,  but  if  it  is  not 
love  to  God  which  actuates  him,  it  will  not  be  accept- 
able to  God. 

LOVE'S   WONDERFUL   EFFECTS. 

"Charity  suffereth  long,  and  is  kind  ;  charity  envieth 
not ;  charity  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up. 


84  SECRET  POWER. 


"Doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly,  seeketh  not  her 
own,  is  not  easily  provoked,  thinketh  no  evil." 

That's  the  work  of  love.  It  is  not  easily  provoked. 
Now  if  a  man  has  no  love  of  God  in  his  heart,  how  easy 
it  is  to  become  offended  ;  perhaps  with  the  church 
because  some  members  of  the  church  don't  treat  him 
just  right,  or  some  men  of  the  church  don't  bow  to  him 
on  the  street,  he  takes  offense,  and  that  is  the  last  you 
see  of  him.  Love  is  long-suffering.  If  I  love  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  these  little  things  are  not  going  to  separate 
me  from  His  people.  They  are  like  the  dust  in  the  bal- 
ance. Nor  will  the  cold,  formal  treatment  of  hypocrites 
in  the  church  quench  that  love  I  have  in  my  heart  for 
Him.  If  this  love  is  in  the  heart,  and  the  fire  is 
burning  on  the  altar,  we  will  not  be  all  the  time  finding 
fault  with  other  people  and  criticising  what  they  have 
done. 

CRITICS   BEWARE. 

Love  will  rebuke  evil,  but  will  not  rejoice  in  it.  Love 
will  be  impatient  of  sin,  but  patient  with  the  sin- 
ner. To  form  the  habit  of  finding  fault  constantly, 
is  very  damaging  to  spiritual  life ;  it  is  about  the  low- 
est and  meanest  position  that  a  man  can  take.  I 
never  saw  a  man  who  was  aiming  to  do  the  best 
work,  but  there  could  have  been  some  improvement ; 
I  never  did  anything  in  my  life,  I  never  addressed  an 
audience,  that  I  didn't  think  I  could  have  done  better, 
and  I  have  often  upbraided  myself  that  I  had  not  done 
better ;  but  to  sit  down  and  find  fault  with  other  people 
when  we  are  doing  nothing  ourselves,  not  lifting  our 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  85 

hands  to  save    some  one,  is  all  wrong,  and  is  the  op- 
posite of  holy,  patient,  divine  love. 

Love  is  forbearance ;  and  what  we  want  is  to  get  this 
spirit  of  criticism  and  fault  finding  out  of  the  Church 
and  out  of  our  hearts  ;  and  let  each  one  of  us  live  as  if 
we  had  to  answer  for  ourselves,  and  not  for  the  com- 
munity, at  the  last  day.  If  we  are  living  according  to 
the  13th  chapter  of  Corinthians,  we  will  not  be  all  the 
time  finding  fault  with  other  people.  "  Love  suffereth 
long,  and  is  kind."  Love  forgets  itself,  and  don't  dwell 
upon  itself.  The  woman  who  came  to  Christ  with  that 
alabaster  box,  I  venture  to  say,  never  thought  of 
herself.  Little  did  she  know  what  an  act  she  was  per- 
forming. It  was  just  her  love  for  the  Master.  She  for- 
got the  surroundings,  she  forgot  everything  else  that 
was  there ;  she  broke  that  box  and  poured  the  ointment 
upon  Him,  and  filled  the  house  with  its  odor.  The  act, 
as  a  memorial,  has  come  down  these  1800  years.  It  is 
right  here — the  perfume  of  that  box  is  in  the  world  to- 
day. That  ointment  was  worth  $4-0  or  $50  ;  no  small  sum 
of  those  days  for  a  poor  woman.  Judas  sold  the  Son  of 
God  for  about  $15  or  $20.  But  what  this  woman  gave 
to  Christ  was  everything  that  she  had,  and  she  became 
so  occupied  with  Jesus  Christ  that  she  didn't  think  what 
people  were  going  to  say.  So  when  we  act  with  a  sin- 
gle eye  for  the  glory  of  our  Lord,  not  find-ing  fault  with 
everything  about  us,  but  doing  what  we  can  in  the 
power  of  this  love,  then  will  our  deeds  for  God  speak, 
and  the  world  will  acknowledge  that  we  have  been  with 
Jesus,  and  that  this  glorious  love  has  been  shed  abroad 
in  our  hearts. 

If  we  don't  love  the  Church  of  God,  I  am  afraid  it 


86  SECRET  POWER. 


won  t  do  us  much  good  ;  if  we  don't  love  the  blessed 
liible,  it  will  not  do  us  much  good.  What  we  want, 
then,  is  to  have  love  for  Christ,  to  have  love  for  His 
word,  and  to  have  love  for  the  Church  of  God,  and  when 
we  have  love,  and  are  living  in  that  spirit,  we  will  not 
be  in  the  spirit  of  finding  fault  and  working  mischief. 

AFTER   LOVE,   WHAT? 

After  love  comes  peace.  I  have  before  remarked,  a 
great  many  people  are  trying  to  make  peace.  But  that 
has  already  been  done.  God  has  not  left  it  for  us  to 
do ;  all  that  we  have  to  do  is  to  enter  into  it.  It  is 
a  condition,  and  instead  of  our  trying  to  make  peace 
and  to  work  for  peace,  we  want  to  cease  all  that,  and 
sweetly  enter  into  peace. 

If  I  discover  a  man  in  the  cellar  complaining  because 
there  is  no  light  there,  and  because  it  is  cold  and  damp, 
I  say:  "My  friend,  come  up  out  of  the  cellar.  There 
is  a  good  warm  sun  up  here,  a  beautiful  spring  day,  and 
it  is  warm,  it  is  cheerful  and  light;  come  up,  and  enjoy 
it."  Would  lie  reply.  tkO.  no.  sir;  I  am  trying  to 
see  if  I  can  make  light  down  here ;  I  am  trying  to 
work  myself  into  a  warm  feeling."  And  there  he  is 
working  away,  and  he  has  been  at  it  for  a  whole  week. 
I  can  imagine  my  reader  smile ;  but  you  may  be  smiling 
at  your  own-  picture ;  for  this  is  the  condition  of  many 
whom  I  daily  meet  who  are  trying  to  do  this  very  thing 
— they  are  trying  to  work  themselves  into  peace  and  joy- 
ful feelings.  Peace  is  a  condition  into  which  we  enter ; 
it  is  a  state;  and  instead  of  our  trying  to  make  peace, 
let  us  believe  what  God's  Word  declares,  that  p?ace 
has  already  been  made  by  the  blood  of  the  Cross. 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  87 

Christ  has  made  peace  for  us,  and  now  what  He  de- 
sires is  that  we  believe  it  and  enter  into  it.  Now,  the 
only  thing  that  can  keep  us  from  peace  is  sin.  God 
turneth  the  way  of  the  wicked  upside  down.  There  is 
no  peace  for  the  wicked,  saith  my  God.  They  are 
like  the  troubled  sea  that  can  not  rest,  casting  up 
filth  and  mire  all  tne  while  ;  but  peace  with  God  by 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ — peace  through  the  knowledge  of 
forgiven  sin,  is  like  a  rock ;  the  waters  go  dashing  and 
surging  past  it,  but  it  abides.  When  we  find  peace,  we 
shall  not  find  it  on  the  ground  of  innate  goodness  ;  it 
comes  from  without  ourselves,  but  into  us.  In  the  16th 
chapter  of  John  and  the  33d  verse  we  read:  "These 
things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that  in  me  ye  might  have 
peace."  In  me  ye  might  have  peace.  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  author  of  peace.  He  procured  peace.  His  gospel  is 
the  gospel  of  peace.  "  Behold  I  bring  you  good  tidings 
of  great  joy  which  shall  be  unto  all  people  ;  for  unto 
you  is  born  this  day  in  the  city  of  David  a  Saviour," 
and  then  came  that  chorus  from  heaven  "  Glory  to  God 
in  the  highest;  peace  on  earth."  He  brought  peace. 
"  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation,  but  be  of  good 
cheer,  I  have  overcome  the  world." 

How  true  that  in  the  world  we  have  tribulation.  Are 
you  in  tribulation  ?  Are  you  in  trouble  ?  Are  you  in 
sorrow  ?  Remember  this  is  our  lot.  Paul  had  tribula- 
tion, and  others  shared  in  grief.  Nor  shall  we  be 
exempt  from  trial.  But  within,  peace  may  reign  undis- 
turbed. If  sorrow  is  our  lot,  peace  is  our  legacy.  Jesus 
gives  peace ;  and  do  you  know  there  is  a  good  deal  of 
difference  between  His  peace  and  our  peace  ?  Any  one 
can  disturb  our  peace,  but  they  can't  disturb  His  peace. 


88  SECRET  POWER. 


That  is  the  kind  of  peace  He  has  left  us.     Nothing  can 
offend  those  who  trust  in.  Christ. 

NOT   EASILY   OFFENDED. 

In  the  119th  Psalm  and  the  165th  verse,  we  find 
"  Great  peace  have  they  who  love  Thy  law  ;  and  noth- 
ing shall  offend  them."  The  study  of  God's  Word  will 
secure  peace.  You  take  those  Christians  who  are  rooted 
and  grounded  in  the  Word  of  God,  and  you  find  they 
have  great  peace;  but  it  is  these  who  don't  study  their 
Bible,  and  don't  know  their  Bible,  who  are  easily 
offended  when  some  little  trouble  comes,  or  some  little 
persecution,  and  their  peace  is  all  disturbed  ;  just  a  little 
breath  of  opposition,  and  their  peace  is  all  gone. 

Sometimes  I  am  amazed  to  see  how  little  it  takes  to 
drive  all  peace  and  comfort  from  some  people.  Some 
slandering  tongue  will  readily  blast  it.  But  if  we  have 
the  peace  of  God,  the  world  can  not  take  that  from 
us.  It  can  not  give  it ;  it  can  not  destroy  it.  We  have 
to  get  it  from  above  the  world  ;  it  is  peace  which  Christ 
gives.  "Great  peace  have  they  which  love  Thy  law, 
and  nothing  shall  offend  them."  Christ  says  "blessed 
is  he,  whosoever  shall  not  be  offended  in  Me."  Now,  if 
you  will  notice,  wherever  there  is  a  Bible-taught  Christ- 
ian, one  who  has  the  Bible  well  marked,  and  daily  feeds 
upon  the  Word  by  prayerful  meditation,  he  will  not  be 
easily  offended. 

Such  are  the  people  who  are  growing  and  working  all 
the  while.  But  it  is  these  people  who  never  open  their 
Bibles,  these  people  who  never  study  the  Scriptures,  who 
become  offended,  and  are  wondering  why  they  are  having 
such  a  hard  time.  They  are  the  persons  who  tell  you 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  89 

that  Christianity  is  not  what  it  has  been  recommended 
to  them ;  that  they  have  found  it  was  not  all  that  we 
claim  it  to  be.  The  real  trouble  is,  they  have  not  done 
as  the  Lord  has  told  them  to  do.  They  have  neg- 
lected the  Word  of  God.  If  they  had  been  studying  the 
Word  of  God,  they  would  not  be  in  that  condition.  If 
they  had  been  studying  the  Word  of  God,  they  would 
not  have  wandered  these  years  away  from  God,  living 
on  the  husks  of  the  world.  But  the  trouble  is,  they  have 
neglected  to  care  for  the  new  life  ;  they  haven't  fed  it, 
and  the  poor  soul,  being  starved,  sinks  into  weakness 
and  decay,  and  is  easily  stumbled  or  offended. 

I  met  a  man  who  confessed  his  soul  had  fed  on  noth- 
ing for  forty  years.  "Well,  "said  I,  "that  is  pretty 
hard  for  the  soul — giving  it  nothing  to  feed  on  !  " 
And  that  man  is  but  a  type  of  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  to-day ;  their  poor  souls  are  starving.  This 
body  that  we  inhabit  for  a  day,  and  then  leave,  we  take 
good  care  of;  we  feed  it  three  times  a  day,  and  we 
clothe  it,  and  take  care  of  it,  and  deck  it,  and  by  and 
by  it  is  going  into  the  grave  to  be  eaten  up  by  the 
worms  ;  but  the  inner  man,  that  is  to  live  on  and  on,  and 
on  forever,  is  lean  and  starved. 

SWEET   WORDS. 

In  the  6th  chapter  of  Numbers  and  22d  verse  we 
read : 

"And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying:  Speak 
unto  Aaron  and  unto  his  sons,  saying,  on  this  wise  ye 
shall  bless  the  children  of  Israel,  saying  unto  them : 
The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee.  The  Lord  make  His 
face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious  unto  thee.  The 


90  SECRET  POWER. 


Lord  lift  up  His  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give  thee 
peace." 

I  think  these  are  about  as  sweet  verses  as  we  find  in 
the  Old  Testament.  I  marked  them  years  ago  in  my 
Bible,  and  many  times  I  have  turned  over  and  read 
them.  "The  Lord  lift  up  His  countenance  upon  thee, 
and  give  thee  peace."  They  remind  us  of  the  loving 
words  of  Jesus  to  his  troubled  disciples,  "Peace,  be 
still."  The  Jewish  salutation  used  to  be,  as  a  man 
went  into  a  house,  "Peace  be  upon  this  house,"  and 
as  he  left  the  house  the  host  would  say,  "  Go  in  peace." 

Then  again,  in  the  14th  chapter  of  John  and  the  27th 
verse,  Jesus  said  :  "Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace 
I  give  unto  you ;  not  as  the  world  giveth  give  I  unto 
you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be 
afraid."  This  is  the  precious  legacy  of  Jesus  to  all  His 
followers.  Every  man,  every  woman,  every  child,  who 
believes  in  Him,  may  share  in  this  portion.  Christ  has 
willed  it  to  them,  and  His  peace  is  theirs. 

This  then  is  our  Lord's  purpose  and  promise.  My 
peace  I  give  unto  you.  I  give  it,  and  I  am  not  going  to 
take  it  away  again ;  I  am  going  to  leave  it  to  you. 
"Not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  Let.  not 
your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid."  But 
you  know,  when  some  men  make  their  wills  and  deed 
away  their  property,  there  are  some  sharp,  shrewd  law- 
yers who  will  get  hold  of  that  will  and  break  it  all  to 
pieces ;  they  will  go  into  court  and  break  the  will,  and 
the  jury  will  set  the  will  aside,  and  the  money  goes  into 
another  channel.  Now  this  will  that  Christ  has  made, 
neither  devil  nor  man  can  break  it.  He  has  promised  to 
give  us  peace,  and  there  are  thousands  of  witnesses  who 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  91 

can  say :  "I  have  m  y  part  of  that  legacy.  I  have  peace ; 
I  came  to  Him  for  peace,  and  I  got  it ;  I  came  to  Him 
in  darkness ;  I  came  to  Him  in  trouble  and  sorrow;  I 
was  passing  under  a  deep  cloud  of  affliction,  and  I  came 
to  Him  and  He  said,  '  Peace,  be  still. '  And  from  that 
hour  peace  reigned  in  my  soul."  Yes,  many  have 
proved  the  invitation  true,  "Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest."  They  found  rest  when  they  came.  He  is 
the  author  of  rest,  He  is  the  author  of  peace,  and 
no  power  can  break  that  will ;  yea,  unbelief  may  ques- 
tion it,  but  Jesus  Christ  rose  to  execute  His  own  will, 
and  it  is  in  vain  for  man  to  contest  it.  Infidels  and 
skeptics  may  tell  us  that  it  is  all  a  myth,  and  that  there 
isn't  anything  in  it,  and  yet  the  glorious  tidings  is  ever 
repeated,  "Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  man,"  and  the 
poor  and  needy,  the  sad  and  sorrowful,  are  made  par- 
takers of  it. 

So,  my  reader,  you  need  not  wait  for  peace  any 
longer.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  enter  into  it  to-day. 
You  need  not  try  to  make  peace.  It  is  a  false  idea ; 
you  can  not  make  it.  Peace  is  already  made  by  Jesus 
Christ,  and  is  now  declared  unto  you. 

PEACE  DECLARED. 

When  France  and  England  were  at  war,  a  French 
vessel  had  gone  off  on  a  long  voyage,  a  whaling  voy- 
age ;  and  when  they  came  back,  the  crew  were  short  of 
water,  and  being  now  near  an  English  port,  they  wanted 
to  get  water ;  but  they  were  afraid  that  they  would  be 
taken  if  they  went  into  that  port ;  and  some  people  in  the 
port  saw  them,  saw  their  signal  of  distress,  and  sent  word 


92  SECRET  POWER. 


to  them  that  they  need  not  be  afraid,  that  the  war  was 
over,  and  peace  had  been  declared.  But  they  couldn't 
make  those  sailors  believe  it,  and  they  didn't  dare  to  go 
into  port,  although  they  were  out  of  water ;  but  at  last  they 
made  up  their  minds  that  they  had  better  go  in  and  sur- 
render up  their  cargo  and  surrender  up  their  lives  to  their 
enemies  than  to  perish  at  sea  without  water ;  but  when 
they  got  in,  they  found  out  that  peace  had  been  declared, 
and  that  what  had  been  told  them  was  true.  So  there 
are  a  great  many  people  who  don't  believe  the  glad  tid- 
ings that  peace  has  been  made.  Jesus  Christ  made 
peace  on  the  Cross.  He  satisfied  the  claims  of  the  law; 
and  this  law  which  condemns  you  and  me  has  been  ful- 
filled by  Jesus  Christ.  He  has  made  peace,  and  now  He 
wants  us  just  to  enjoy  it,  just  to  believe  it.  Nor  is 
there  a  thing  to  hinder  us  from  doing  it,  if  we  will.  We 
can  enter  into  that  blessing  now,  and  have  perfect 
peace.  The  promise  is:  "Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  per- 
fect peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Thee.  Trust  ye  in 
the  Lord  forever,  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  everlasting 
strength."  Now,  as  long  as  our  mind  is  stayed  on  our 
dear  selves,  we  will  never  have  peace.  Some  people 
think  more  of  themselves  than  of  all  the  rest  of  the 
world.  It  is  self  in  the  morning,  self  at  noon,  and  self 
at  night.  It  is  self  when  they  wake  up,  and  self  when 
they  go  to  bed;  and  they  are  all  the  time  looking  at 
themselves  and  thinking  about  themselves,  instead  of 
u  looking  unto  Jesus."  Faith  is  an  outward  look. 
Faith  does  not  look  within  ;  it  looks  without.  It  is  not 
what  I  think,  nor  what  I  feel,  nor  what  I  have  done,  but 
it  is  what  Jesus  Christ  is  and  has  done,  and  so  we 
should  trust  in  Him  who  is  our  strength,  and  whose 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  93 

strength  will  never  fail.  After  Christ  rose  from  the 
grave,  three  times,  John  tells  us,  He  met  His  disciples 
and  said  unto  them,  "Peace  be  unto  you."  There  is 
peace  for  the  conscience  through  His  blood,  and  peace 
for  the  heart  in  His  love. 

SECRET    OF   JOY. 

Remember,  then,  that  love  is  power,  and  peace  is 
power;  but  now  I  will  call  attention  to  another  fruit  of  the 
Spirit,  and  this  too  is  power  —  the  grace  of  JOY.  It  is 
the  privilege,  I  believe,  of  every  Christian  to  walk  in  the 
light,  as  God  is  in  the  light,  and  to  have  that  peace  which 
will  be  flowing  unceasingly  as  we  keep  busy  about  His 
work.  And  it  is  our  privilege  to  be  full  of  the  joy  of  the 
Lord.  We  read,  that  when  Philip  went  down  to  Samaria 
and  preached,  there  was  great  joy  in  the  city.  Why  ? 
Because  they  believed  the  glad  tidings.  And  that  is  the 
natural  order,  joy  in  believing.  When  we  believe  the 
glad  tidings,  there  comes  a  joy  into  our  souls.  Also  we 
are  told  that  our  Lord  sent  the  seventy  out,  and  that 
they  went  forth  preaching  salvation  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  the  result  was  that  there  were  a  great  many 
who  were  blessed ;  and  the  seventy  returned,  it  says, 
with  great  joy,  and  when  they  came  back  they  said  that 
the  very  devils  were  subject  to  them,  through  His  name. 
The  Lord  seemed  to  just  correct  them  in  this  one  thing 
when  He  said,  "Rejoice  not  that  the  devils  are  subject 
to  you,  but  rejoice  that  your  names  are  written  in 
heaven."  There  is  assurance  for  you.  They  had  some- 
thing to  rejoice  in  now.  God  don't  ask  us  to  rejoice 
over  nothing,  but  He  gives  us  some  ground  for  our  joy. 
What  would  you  think  of  a  man  or  woman  who  seemed 


94  SECRET  POWER. 


very  happy  to-day  and  full  of  joy,  and  couldn't  tell  you 
what  made  them  so  ?  Suppose  I  should  meet  a  man  on 
the  street,  and  he  was  so  full  of  joy  that  he  should  get 
hold  of  both  my  hands  and  say,  "Bless  the  Lord,  I  am 
so  full  of  joy  !  "  "What  makes  you  so  full  of  joy?" 
"  Well,  I  don't  know."  "  You  don't  know  ?"  "  No,  I 
don't ;  but  I  am  so  joyful  that  I  just  want  to  get  out  of 
the  flesh."  "  What  makes  you  feel  so  joyful  ?  "  "  Well, 
I  don't  know."  Would  we  not  think  such  a  person  un- 
reasonable ?  But  there  are  a  great  many  people  who 
feel — who  want  to  feel — that  they  are  Christians  before 
they  are  Christians ;  they  want  the  Christian's  experi- 
ence before  they  become  Christians  ;  they  want  to  have 
the  joy  of  the  Lord  before  they  receive  Jesus  Christ. 
But  this  is  not  the  Gospel  order.  He  brings  joy  when 
He  comes,  and  we  can  not  have  joy  apart  from  Him ; 
there  is  no  joy  away  from  Him  ;  He  is  the  author  of  it, 
and  we  find  our  joy  in  Him. 

JOY   IS    UNSELFISH. 

Now,  there  are  three  kinds  of  joy;  there  is  the  joy  of 
one's  own  salvation.  I  thought,  when  I  first  tasted  that, 
it  was  the  most  delicious  joy  I  had  ever  known,  and  that 
I  could  never  get  beyond  it.  But  I  found,  afterward, 
there  was  something  more  joyful  than  that,  namely,  the 
joy  of  the  salvation  of  others.  Oh,  the  privilege,  the 
blessed  privilege,  to  be  used  of  God  to  win  a  soul  to 
Christ,  and  to  see  a  man  or  woman  being  led  out  of 
bondage  by  some  act  of  ours  toward  them.  To  think 
that  God  should  condescend  to  allow  us  to  be  co-work 
ers  with  Him.  It  is  the  highest  honor  we  can  wear.  It 
surpasses  the  joy  of  our  own  salvation,  this  joy  of  seeing 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  95 

others  saved.  And  then  John  said,  He  had  no  greater 
joy  than  to  see  His  disciples  walking  in  the  truth.  Every 
man  who  has  been  the  means  of  leading  souls  to  Christ 
understands  what  that  means.  Young  disciples,  walk 
in  the  truth  and  you  will  have  joy  all  the  while. 

I  think  there  is  a  difference  between  happiness  and 
joy.  Happiness  is  caused  by  things  which  happen 
around  me,  and  circumstances  will  mar  it,  but  joy  flo\vs 
right  on  through  trouble ;  joy  flows  on  through  the 
dark ;  joy  flows  in  the  night  as  well  as  in  the  day ;  joy 
flows  all  through  persecution  and  opposition  ;  it  flows 
right  along,  for  it  is  an  unceasing  fountain  bubbling  up 
in  the  heart ;  a  secret  spring  which  the  world  can't  see 
and  don't  know  anything  about ;  but  the  Lord  gives  His 
people  perpetual  joy  when  they  walk  in  obedience  to 
Him. 

This  joy  is  fed  by  the  Divine  Word.  Jeremiah  says 
in  chapter  xv,  16:  "Thy  words  were  found,  and  I 
did  eat  them ;  and  Thy  Word  was  unto  me  the  joy  and 
rejoicing  of  my  heart ;  for  I  am  called  by  Thy  name,  O 
Lord." 

He  ate  the  words,  and  what  was  the  result  ?  He  said 
they  were  the  joy  and  rejoicing  of  his  heart.  Now 
people  should  look  for  joy  in  the  Word,  and  not  in  the 
world ;  they  should  look  for  the  joy  which  the  Scrip- 
tures furnish,  and  then  go  work  in  the  vineyard; 
because  a  joy  that  don't  send  me  out  to  some  one  else, 
a  ioy  that  don't  impel  me  to  go  and  help  the  poor 
drunkard,  a  joy  that  don't  prompt  me  to  visit  the 
widow  and  the  fatherless,  a  joy  that  don't  cause  me 
to  go  into  the  Mission  Sunday-school  or  other  Christian 
work,  is  not  worth  having,  and  is  not  from  above ;  a  joy 


96  SECRET  POWER. 


that  does  not  constrain  me  to  go  and  work  for  the  Mas- 
ter, is  purely  sentiment  and  not  real  joy. 

JOT    IN    PERSECUTION. 

Then  it  says  in  Luke  vi,  22  :  "  Blessed  are  ye  when 
men  shall  hate  you,  and  when  they  shall  separate  you 
from  their  company,  and  shall  reproach  you  and  cast 
out  your  name  as  evil,  for  the  Son  of  Man's  sake. 
Rejoice  ye  in  that  day  and  leap  for  joy,  for  behold 
your  reward  is  great  in  heaven  ;  for  in  like  manner  did 
their  fathers  unto  the  prophets." 

Christians  do  not  receive  their  reward  down  here. 
We  have  to  go  right  against  the  current  of  the  world. 
"We  may  be  unpopular,  and  we  may  go  right  against 
many  of  our  personal  friends  if  we  live  godly  in  Christ 
Jesus ;  and  at  the  same  time,  if  we  are  persecuted 
for  the  Master's  sake,  we  will  have  this  joy  bubbling 
up ;  it  just  comes  right  up  in  our  hearts  all  the  while — 
a  joy  that  is  unceasing — that  flows  right  on.  The  world 
can  not  choke  that  fountain.  If  we  have  Christ  in  the 
heart,  by  and  by  the  reward  will  come.  The  lo*nger  I 
live  the  more  I  am  convinced  that  godly  men  and  women 
are  not  appreciated  in  our  day.  But  their  work  will  live 
after  them,  and  there  will  be  a  greater  work  done  after 
they  are  gone,  by  the  influence  of  their  lives,  than  when 
they  were  living.  Daniel  is  doing  a  thousand  times 
more  than  when  he  was  living  in  Babylon.  Abraham  is 
doing  more  to-day  than  he  did  on  the  plain  with  his  tent 
and  altar.  All  these  centuries  he  has  been  living,  and 
so  we  read,  "Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord, 
from  henceforth ;  yea  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may 
rest  from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  97 

Let  us  set  the  streams  running  that  shall  flow  on  after 
we  have  gone.  If  we  have  to-day  persecution  and  oppo- 
sition, let  us  press  forward,  and  our  reward  will  be  great 
by  and  by.  Oh !  think  of  this  ;  the  Lord  Jesus,  the 
Maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  who  created  the  world, 
says,  "  Great  shall  be  thy  reward. "  He  calls  it  great. 
If  some  friend  should  say  it  is  great,  it  might  be  very 
small ;  but  when  the  Lord,  the  great  and  mighty  God, 
says  it  is  great,  what  must  it  be  ?  Oh  !  the  reward  that 
is  in  store  for  those  who  serve  Him !  We  have  this  joy, 
if  we  serve  Him.  A  man  or  woman  is  not  fit  to  work 
for  God  who  is  cast  down,  because  they  go  about  their 
work  with  a  tell-tale  face.  "  The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your 
strength."  What  we  need  to-day  is  a  joyful  church.  A 
joyful  church  will  make  inroads  upon  the  works  of  Satan, 
and  we  will  see  the  Gospel  going  down  into  dark  lanes 
and  dark  alleys,  and  into  dark  garrets  and  cellars,  and 
we  will  see  the  drunkards  reached  and  the  gamblers  and 
the  harlots  come  pressing  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  It 
is  this  carrying  a  sad  countenance,  with  so  many  wrinkles 
on  our  brows,  that  retards  Christianity.  Oh  may  there 
come  great  joy  upon  believers  everywhere,  that  we  may 
shout  for  joy  and  rejoice  in  God  day  and  night.  A  joy- 
ful church — let  us  pray  for  that,  that  the  Lord  may  make 
us  joyful,  and  when  we  have  joy,  then  we  will  have  suc- 
cess ;  and  if  we  don't  have  the  reward  we  think  we 
should  have  here,  let  us  constantly  remember  the  reward- 
ing time  will  come  hereafter. 

Some  one  has  said,  if  you  had  asked  men  in  Abra- 
ham's day  who  their  great  man  was,  they  would  have 
said  Enoch,  and  not  Abraham.     If  you  had  asked  in 
Moses'  day  who  their  great  man  was,  they  would  not 
7 


98  SECRET  POWER. 


have  said  it  was  Moses ;  he  was  nothing,  but  it  would 
have  been  Abraham.  If  you  had  asked  in  the  days  of 
Elijah  or  Daniel,  it  wouldn't  have  been  Daniel  or  Eli- 
jah ;  they  were  nothing ;  but  it  would  have  been  Moses. 
And  in  the  days  of  Jesus  Christ — if  you  had  asked  in 
the  days  of  Jesus  Christ  about  John  the  Baptist  or  the 
apostles,  you  would  hear  they  were  mean  and  contempt- 
ible in  the  sight  of  the  world,  and  were  looked  upon 
with  scorn  and  reproach ;  but  see  how  mighty  they 
have  become.  And  so  we  will  not  be  appreciated  in 
our  day,  but  we  are  to  toil  on  and  work  on,  possessing 
this  joy  all  the  while.  And  if  we  lack  it,  let  us  cry : 
"Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  Thy  salvation,  and  uphold 
me  with  Thy  free  Spirit ;  then  will  I  teach  transgressors 
Thy  ways,  and  sinners  shall  be  converted  unto  Thee." 

Again,  the  15th  chapter  of  John,  and  llth  verse, 
reads :  "  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that  my 
joy  might  remain  in  you,  and  that  your  joy  might  be 
full."  And  in  the  16th  chapter  and  22d  verse:  "And 
ye  now  therefore  have  sorrow  ;  but  I  will  see  you  again, 
and  your  heart  shall  rejoice,  and  your  joy  no  man  taketh 
from  you." 

1  am  so  thankful  that  I  have  a  joy  that  the  world  can 
not  rob  me  of;  I  have  a  treasure  that  the  world  can  not 
take  from  me ;  I  have  something  that  it  is  not  in  the 
power  of  man  or  devil  to  deprive  me  of,  and  that  is  the 
joy  of  the  Lord.  "No  man  taketh  it  from  you."  In 
the  second  century,  they  brought  a  martyr  before  a 
king,  and  the  king  wanted  him  to  recant  and  give  up 
Christ  and  Christianity,  but  the  man  spurned  the  propo- 
sition. But  the  king  said  :  '"If  you  don't  do  it,  I  will 
banish  you."  The  man  smiled  and  answered  :  "  You 


POWER  IN  OPERATION.  99 

can't  banish  me  from  Christ,  for  He  says  He  will  never 
leave  me  nor  forsake  me."  The  king  got  angry,  and 
said:  "Well,  I  will  confiscate  your  property  and  take 
it  all  from  you."  And  the  man  replied:  "My  treas- 
ures are  laid  up  on  high  ;  you  can  not  get  them."  The 
king  became  still  more  angry,  and  said :  "I  will  kill 
you."  "  Why,"  the  man  answered,  "  I  have  been  dead 
forty  years  ;  I  have  been  dead  with  Christ ;  dead  to  the 
world,  and  my  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  and  you 
can  not  touch  it."  And  so  we  can  rejoice,  because  we 
are  on  resurrection  ground,  having  risen  with  Christ. 
Let  persecution  and  opposition  come,  we  can  rejoice 
continually,  and  remember  that  our  reward  is  great, 
reserved  for  us  unto  the  day  when  He  who  is  our  Life 
shall  appear,  and  we  shall  appear  with  Him  in  glory. 


'  HE  Spirit,  oh,  sinner, 

In  mercy  doth  move 
Thy  heart,  so  long  hardened, 

Of  sin  to  reprove; 
Resist  not  the  Spirit, 
Nor  longer  delay; 
God's  gracious  entreaties  may  end  with  to-day. 

"  Oh,  child  of  the  kingdom, 
From  sin  service  cease; 
Be  filled  with  the  Spirit, 

With  comfort  and  peace. 
Oh.  grieve  not  the  Spirit, 

Thy  Teacher  is  He, 
That  Jesus,  thy  Saviour,  may  glorified  be. 

"  Defiled  is  the  temple, 
Its  beauty  laid  low, 
On  God's  holy  altar 

The  embers  faint  glow, 
By  love  yet  rekindled, 

A  flame  may  be  fanned ; 
Oh,  quench  not  the  Spirit,  the  Lord  is  at  hand!  " 

—P.  P.  Bliss. 


100 


CHAPTER  V. 


POWER  HINDERED. 


Wl 


The  strokes  of  the  "  Sword  of  the  Spirit"  alight  only  on  the  con- 
science, and  its  edge  is  anointed  with  a  balm  to  heal  every  wound  it 
may  inflict. — Dr.  J.  Harris, 

Every  vain  thought  and  idle  word,  and  every  wicked  deed,  is  like 
so  many  drops  to  quench  the  Spirit  of  God.  Some  quench  Him  with 
the  lust  of  the  flesh;  some  quench  Him  with  cares  of  the  mind; 
some  quench  Him  with  long  delays,  that  is,  not  plying  the  motion 
when  it  cometh,  but  crossing  the  good  thoughts  with  bad  thoughts, 
and  doing  a  thing  when  the  Spirit  saith  not.  The  Spirit  is  often 
grieved  befort;  He  be  quenched. — H.  Smith. 

In  times  when  vile  men  held  the  high  places  of  the  land,  a  roll  of 
drums  was  employed  to  drown  the  martyr's  voice,  lest  the  testimony 
of  truth  from  the  scaffold  should  reach  the  ears  of  the  people,— an 
illustration  of  how  men  deal  with  their  own  consciences,  and  seek  to 
put  to  silence  the  truth-telling  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit. — Arnot. 


102 


POWER  HINDERED. 


ISRAEL,  we  are  told,  limited  the  Holy  One  of  Israel. 
They  vexed  and  grieved  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  rebelled 
against  His  authority,  but  there  is  a  special  sin  against 
Him,  which  we  may  profitably  consider.  The  first 
description  of  it  is  in  Matthew  xii,  22d  verse : 

THE    UNPARDONABLE    SIN. 

"Then  was  brought  unto  Him  one  possessed  with  a 
devil,  blind  and  dumb ;  and  He  healed  him,  insomuch 
that  the  blind  and  dumb  both  spake  and  saw.  And  all 
the  people  were  amazed,  and  said,  Is  not  this  the  son  of 
David  ?  But  when  the  Pharisees  heard  it,  they  said, 
This  fellow  doth  not  cast  out  devils,  but  by  Beelzebub 
the  prince  of  the  devils.  And  Jesus  knew  their  thoughts, 
and  said  unto  them,  Every  kingdom  divided  against 
itself  is  brought  to  desolation ;  and  every  city  or  house 
divided  against  itself  shall  not  stand.  And  if  Satan  cast 
out  Satan,  he  is  divided  against  himself;  how  shall  then 
his  kingdom  stand  ?  And  if  I  by  Beelzebub  cast  out 
devils,  by  whom  do  your  children  cast  them  out  ?  there- 
fore they  shall  be  your  judges.  But  if  I  cast  out  devils 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  then  the  kingdom  of  God  is  come 
unto  you.  Or  else  how  can  one  enter  into  a  strong 
man's  house,  and  spoil  his  goods,  except  he  first  bind 
the  strong  man  ?  and  then  he  will  spoil  his  house.  He 

103 


104  SECRET  POWER. 


that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me  ;  and  he  that  gathereth 
not  witli  me,  scattereth  abroad.  Wherefore  I  say  unto 
you,  all  manner  of  sin  and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven 
unto  men ;  but  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost 
shall  not  be  forgiven  unto  men.  And  whosoever  speak- 
eth  a  word  against  the  Son  of  man,  it  shall  be  forgiven 
him ;  but  whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world,  neither 
in  the  world  to  come."  That  is  Matthew's  account. 
Now  let  us  read  Mark's  account  in  chapter  iii,  21,  etc.: 

"And  when  His  friends  heard  of  it,  they  went  out  to 
lay  hold  on  Him,  for  they  said :  He  (that  is  Christ)  is 
beside  Himself.  And  the  scribes  which  came  down 
from  Jerusalem  said,  He  hath  Beelzebub,  and  by  the 
prince  of  the  devils  casteth  He  out  devils." 

The  word  Beelzebub  means  the  Lord  of  Filth.  They 
charged  the  Lord  Jesus  with  being  possessed  not  only 
with  an  evil  spirit,  but  with  a  filthy  spirit. 

"And  He  called  them  unto  Him,  and  said  unto  them 
in  parables,  How  can  Satan  cast  out  Satan  ?  And  if  a 
kingdom  be  divided  against  itself,  that  kingdom  can  not 
stand.  And  if  a  house  be  divided  against  itself,  that 
house  can  not  stand.  And  if  Satan  rise  up  against  him- 
self, and  be  divided,  he  can  not  stand,  but  hath  an  end. 
No  man  can  enter  into  a  strong  man's  house,  and  spoil 
his  goods,  except  he  will  first  bind  the  strong  man  ;  and 
then  he  will  spoil  his  house.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  all 
sins  shall  be  forgiven  unto  the  sons  of  men,  and  blas- 
phemies wherewith  soever  they  shall  blaspheme:  But 
he  that  shall  blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Ghost  hath 
never  forgiveness,  but  is  in  danger  of  eternal  damna- 
tion." 


POWER  HINDERED.  105 

Now,  if  it  stopped  there,  we  would  be  left  perhaps  in 
darkness,  and  we  would  not  exactly  understand  what  the 
sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is;  but  the  next  verse  of  this 
same  chapter  of  Mark  just  throws  light  upon  the  whole 
matter,  and  we  need  not  be  in  darkness  another  minute  if 
we  really  want  light ;  for  observe,  the  verse  reads : 
"Because  they  said,  He  hath  an  unclean  spirit." 

Now,  I  have  met  a  good  many  atheists  and  skeptics 
and  deists  and  infidels,  both  in  this  country  and  abroad, 
but  I  never  in  my  life  met  a  man  or  woman  who  ever 
said  that  Jesus  Christ  was  possessed  of  an  unclean 
devil.  Did  you  ?  I  don't  think  you  ever  met  such  a  per- 
son. I  have  heard  men  say  bitter  things  against  Christ, 
but  I  never  heard  any  man  stand  up  and  say  that  he 
thought  Jesus  Christ  was  possessed  with  the  devil,  and 
that  he  cast  out  devils  by  the  power  of  the  devil ;  and  I 
don't  believe  any  man  or  woman  has  any  right  to  say 
they  have  committed  the  unpardonable  sin,  unless  they 
have  maliciously,  and  wilfully  and  deliberately  said 
that  they  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  had  a  devil  in  Him, 
and  that  He  was  under  the  power  of  the  devil,  and  that 
He  cast  out  devils  by  the  power  of  the  devil.  Because 
you  perhaps  have  heard  some  one  say  that  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  grieving  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  resisting  the 
Spirit  of  God  until  He  has  taken  His  flight  and  left  you, 
then  you  have  said  "  That  is  the  unuardonable  sin." 

WHAT   IT   IS   NOT. 

I  admit  there  is  such  a  thing  as  resisting  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  resisting  till  the  Spirit  of  God  has  departed ; 
but  if  the  Spirit  of  God  has,  left  any,  they  will  not  be 
troubled  about  their  sins.  The  very  fact  that  they  are 


106  SECRET  POWER. 


troubled,  shows  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  not  left  them. 
If  a  man  is  troubled  about  his  sins,  it  is  the  work  of  the 
Spirit;  for  Satan  never  yet  told  him  he  was  a  sinner. 
Satan  makes  us  believe  that  we  are  pretty  good  ;  that 
we  are  good  enough  without  God,  safe  without  Christ, 
and  that  we  don't  need  salvation.  But  when  a  man 
wakes  up  to  the  fact  that  he  is  lost,  that  he  is  a  sinner, 
that  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit ;  and  if  the  Spirit  of  God 
had  left  him,  he  would  not  be  in  that  state  ;  and  just 
because  men  and  women  want  to  be  Christians,  is  a  sign 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  drawing  them. 

If  resisting  the  Spirit  of  God  is  an  unpardonable 
sin,  then  we  have  all  committed  it,  and  there  is 
no  hope  for  any  of  us;  for  I  do  not  believe  there 
is  a  minister,  or  a  worker  in  Christ's  vineyard,  who 
has  not,  some  time  in  his  life,  resisted  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  who  has  not  some  time  in  his  life  rejected 
the  Spirit  of  God.  To  resist  the  Holy  Ghost  is  one 
thing,  and  to  commit  that  awful  sin  of  blasphemy 
against  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  another  thing;  and  we  want 
to  take  the  Scripture  and  just  compare  them.  Now, 
some  people  say,  "  I  have  such  blasphemous  thoughts; 
there  are  some  awful  thoughts  that  come  into  my  mind 
against  God,"  and  they  think  that  is  the  unpardonable 
sin.  We  are  not  to  blame  for  having 

BAD   THOUGHTS 

come  into  our  minds.  If  we  harbor  them,  then  we  are 
to  blame.  But  if  the  devil  comes  and  darts  an  evil 
thought  into  my  mind,  and  I  say,  "Lord  help  me," 
sin  is  not  reckoned  to  me.  Who  has  not  had  evil  thoughts 


POWER  HINDERED.  107 

come  into  his  mind,  flash  into  his  heart,  and  been  called 
to  fight  them ! 

One  old  divine  says,  "You  are  not  to  blame  for  the 
birds  that  fly  over  your  head,  but  if  you  allow  them  to 
come  down  and  make  a  nest  in  your  hair,  then  you  are 
to  blame.  You  are  to  blame  if  you  don't  fight  them 
off."  And  so  with  these  evil  thoughts  that  come  flash- 
ing into  our  minds;  we  have  to  fight  them,  we  are  not 
to  harbor  them ;  we  are  not  to  entertain  them.  If  I 
have  evil  thoughts  come  into  my  mind,  and  evil  desires, 
it  is  no  sign  that  I  have  committed  the  unpardonable 
sin.  If  I  love  these  thoughts  and  harbor  them,  and 
think  evil  of  God,  and  think  Jesus  Christ  a  blasphemer, 
I  am  responsible  for  such  gross  iniquity ;  but  if  I  charge 
Him  with  being  the  prince  of  devils,  then  I  am  com- 
mitting the  unpardonable  sin. 

THE   FAITHFUL   FKIEND. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  sin  of  "  Grieving  the  Spirit." 
Resisting  the  Holy  Ghost  is  one  thing,  grieving  Him 
is  another.  Stephen  charged  the  unbelieving  Jews  in 
the  7th  chapter  of  Acts,  "Ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy 
Ghost  as  your  fathers  did,  so  do  ye."  The  world  has 
always  been  resisting  the  Spirit  of  God  in  all  ages. 
That  is  the  history  of  the  world.  The  world  is  to-day 
resisting  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  Faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend."  The  Divine 
Spirit  as  a  friend  reveals  to  this  poor  world  its  faults,  and 
the  world  only  hates  Him  for  it.  He  shows  them  the 
plague  of  their  hearts.  He  convinces  or  convicts  them  of 
sin,  therefore  they  fight  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  believe 
there  is  many  a  man  resisting  the  Holy  Ghost ;  I  believe 


108  SECRET  POWER. 


there  is  many  a  man  to-day  fighting  against  the  Spirit 
of  God. 

In  the  4th  chapter  of  Ephesians,  in  the  30th,  31st, 
and  32d  verses,  we  read  : 

"And  grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whereby 
ye  are  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption.  Let  all  bit- 
terness, and  wrath,  and  anger,  and  clamor,  and  evil 
speaking  be  put  away  from  you,  with  all  malice.  And 
be  ye  kind,  one  to  another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one 
another,  even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven 
you." 

Now,  mark  you,  that  was  written  to  the  Church  at 
Ephesus.  "Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit,  whereby  ye 
are  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption."  I  believe  to- 
day the  Church  all  over  Christendom  is  guilty  of  griev- 
ing the  Holy  Spirit.  There  are  a  good  many  believers 
in  different  churches  wondering  why  the  work  of  God  is 
not  revived. 

THE    CHURCH   GRIEVES   THE    SPIRIT. 

I  think  that  if  we  search,  we  will  find  something  in 
the  Church  grieving  the  Spirit  of  God;  it  may  be  a 
mere  schism  in  the  church  ;  it  may  be  some  unsound 
doctrine ;  it  may  be  some  division  in  the  Church. 
There  is  one  thing  I  have  noticed  as  I  have  traveled 
in  different  countries ;  I  never  yet  have  known  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  work  where  the  Lord's  people  were 
divided.  There  is  one  thing  that  we  must  have  if  we  arc 
to  have  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  to  work  in  our  midst,  and 
that  is  unity.  If  a  church  is  divided,  the  members 
should  immediately  seek  unity.  Let  the  believers  come 
together  and  get  the  difficulty  out  of  the  way.  If  the 


POWER  HINDERED.  109 


minister  of  a  church  can  not  unite  the  people,  if  those 
that  were  dissatisfied  will  not  fall  in,  it  would  be  bet- 
ter for  that  minister  to  retire.  I  think  there  are  a  good 
many  ministers  in  this  country  who  are  losing  their 
time  ;  they  have  lost,  some  of  them,  months  and  years  ; 
they  have  not  seen  any  fruit,  and  they  will  not  see 
any  fruit,  because  they  have  a  divided  church.  Such  a 
church  can  not  grow  in  divine  things.  The  Spirit  of 
God  don't  work  where  there  is  division,  and  what  we 
want  to-day  is  the  spirit  of  unity  amongst  God's  chil- 
dren, so  that  the  Lord  may  work. 

WORLDLY   AMUSEMENTS. 

Then,  another  thing,  I  think,  that  grieves  the  Spirit, 
is  the  miserable  policy  of  introducing  questionable 
entertainments.  There  are  the  lotteries,  for  instance,  that 
we  have  in  many  churches.  If  a  man  wants  to  gam- 
ble, he  doesn't  have  to  go  to  some  gambling  den  ;  he 
can  stay  in  the  church.  And  there  are  fairs — bazaars, 
as  they  call  them — where  they  have  .raffl ings  and  grab- 
bags.  And  if  he  wants  to  see  a  drama,  he  don't  need  to 
go  to  the  theater,  for  many  of  our  churches  are  turned  into 
theaters ;  he  may  stay  right  in  the  church  and  witness 
the  acting.  I  believe  all  these  things  grieve  the  Spirit 
of  God.  I  believe  when  we  bring  the  Church  down  to 
the  level  of  the  world  to  reach  the  world,  we  are  losing 
all  the  while  and  grieving  the  Spirit  of  God. 

But  some  say,  if  we  take  that  standard  and  lift  it  up 
high,  it  will  drive  away  a  great  many  members  from 
our  churches.  I  believe  it,  and  I  think  the  quicker 
they  are  gone  the  better.  The  world  has  come  into  the 
Church  like  a  flood,  and  how  often  you  find  an  ungodly 


110  SECRET  POWER. 


choir  employed  to  do  the  singing  for  the  whole  congre- 
tion ;  the  idea  that  we  need  an  ungodly  man  to  sing 
praises  to  God!  It  was  not  long  ago  I  heard  of  a 
church  where  they  had  an  unconverted  choir,  and  the 
minister  saw  something  about  the  choir  that  he  didn't 
like,  and  he  spoke  to  the  chorister,  but  the  chorister 
replied:  "You  attend  to  your  end  of  the  church,  and 
I  will  attend  to  mine."  You  can  not  expect  the  Spirit  of 
God  to  work  in  a  church  in  such  a  state  as  that. 

UNCONVERTED    CHOIRS. 

Paul  tells  us  not  to  speak  in  an  unknown  tongue,  and 
if  we  have  choirs  who  are  singing  in  an  unknown 
tongue,  why  is  not  that  just  as  great  an  abomination  ? 
I  have  been  in  churches  where  they  have  had  a  choir, 
who  would  rise  and  sing,  and  sing,  and  it  seemed  as  if 
they  sung  five  or  ten  minutes,  and  I  could  not  under- 
stand one  solitary  word  they  sung,  and  all  the  while  the 
people  were  looking  around  carelessly.  There  are,  per- 
haps, a  select  few,  very  fond  of  fine  music,  and  they 
want  to  bring  the  opera  right  into  the  church,  and  so 
they  have  opera  music  in  the  church,  and  the  people,  who 
are  drowsy  and  sleepy,  don't  take  part  in  the  singing. 
They  hire  ungodly  men,  unconverted  men,  and  these 
men  will  sometimes  get  the  Sunday  paper,  and  get 
back  in  the  organ  loft,  and  the  moment  the  minister 
begins  his  sermon,  they  will  take  out  their  papers 
and  read  them  all  the  while  that  the  minister  is  preach- 
ing. The  organist,  provided  he  does  not  go  out  for 
a  walk — if  he  happens  to  keep  awake,  will  read  his 
paper,  or,  perhaps,  a  novel,  while  the  minister  is 
preaching;  and  the  minister  wonders  why  God  don't 


POWER  HINDERED.  Ill 

revive  His  work ;  he  wonders  why  he  is  losing  his  hold 
on  the  congregation  ;  he  wonders  why  people  don't 
come  crowding  into  the  church;  why  people  are  run- 
ning after  the  world  instead  of  coming  into  the  church. 
The  trouble  is  that  we  have  let  down  the  standard  ;  we 
have  grieved  the  Spirit  of  God.  One  movement  of  God's 
power  is  worth  more  than  all  our  artificial  power,  and 
what  the  Church  of  God  wants  to-day  is  to  get  down  in 
the  dust  of  humiliation  and  confession  of  sin,  and  go 
out  and  be  separated  from  the  world ;  and  then  see  if 
we  do  not  have  power  with  God  and  with  man. 

WHAT   IS    SUCCESS? 

The  Gospel  has  not  lost  its  power ;  it  is  just  as  power- 
ful to-day  as  it  ever  has  been.  We  don't  wan't  any  new 
doctrine.  It  is  still  the  old  Gospel  with  the  old  power, 
the  Holy  Ghost  power;  and  if  the  churches  will  but 
confess  their  sins  and  put  them  away,  and  lift  the  stand- 
ard instead  of  pulling  it  down,  and  pray  to  God  to  lift 
us  all  up  into  a  higher  and  holier  life,  then  the  fear  of 
the  Lord  will  come  upon  the  people  around  us. 

It  was  when  Jacob  put  away  strange  gods  and  set  his 
face  toward  Bethel  that  the  fear  of  God  fell  upon  the 
nations  around.  And  when  the  churches  turn  towards 
God,  and  we  cease  grieving  the  Spirit,  so  that  He  may 
work  through  us,  we  will  then  have  conversions  all  the 
while.  Believers  will  be  added  to  the  Church  daily.  It 
is  sad  when  you  look  over  Christendom  and  see  how 
desolate  it  is,  and  see  how  little  spiritual  life,  spiritual 
power,  there  is  in  the  Church  of  God  to-day,  many  of 
the  church  members  not  even  wanting  this  Holy  Ghost 
power.  They  don't  desire  it;  they  want  intellectual 


112  SECRET  POWER. 


power;  they  want  to  get  some  man  who  will  just  draw; 
and  a  choir  that  will  draw  ;  not  caring  whether  any  one 
is  saved.  With  them  that  is  not  the  question.  Only  fill 
the  pews,  have  good  society,  fashionable  people,  and 
dancing ;  such  persons  are  found  one  night  at  the  theater 
and  the  next  night  at  the  opera.  They  don't  like  the 
prayer-me.etings ;  they  abominate  them  ;  if  the  minister 
will  only  lecture  and  entertain,  that  would  suit  them.  I 
said  to  a  man  some  time  ago,  "  How  are  you  getting  on 
at  your  church?"  "Oh,  splendid."  "Many  conver- 
sions? "  "Well — well,  on  that  side  we  are  not  getting 
on  so  well.  But,"  he  said,  "we  rented  all  our  pews 
and  are  able  to  pay  all  our  running  expenses  ;  we  are 
getting  on  splendidly."  That  is  what  the  godless  call 
"getting  on  splendidly;"  because  they  rent  the  pews, 
pay  the  minister,  and  pay  all  the  running  expenses. 
Conversions  !  that  is  a  strange  thing.  There  was  a  man 
being  shown  through  one  of  the  cathedrals  of  Europe ; 
he  had  come  in  from  the  country,  and  one  of  the  men 
belonging  to  the  cathedral  was  showing  him  around, 
when  he  inquired,  "Do  you  have  many  conversions 
here  ?  "  "  Many  what  ? "  "  Many  conversions  here  ? " 
"Ah,  man,  this  is  not  a  Wesleyan  chapel."  The  idea 
of  there  being  conversions  there !  And  you  can  go  into 
a  good  many  churches  in  this  country  and  ask  if  they 
have  many  conversions  there,  and  they  would  not  know 
what  it  meant,  they  are  so  far  away  from  the  Lord  ; 
they  are  not  looking  for  conversions,  and  don't  expect 
them. 

SHIPWRECKS. 

Alas !    how  many  young  converts  have   made   ship- 
wreck against  such  churches.     Instead  of  being  a  harbor 


POWER  HINDERED.  113 

of  delight  to  them,  they  have  proved  false  lights,  alluring 
them  to  destruction.  Isn't  it  time  for  us  to  get  down  on 
our  faces  before  God  and  cry  mightily  to  Him  to  forgive 
us  our  sins.  The  quicker  we  own  it  the  better.  You 
may  be  invited  to  a  party,  and  it  may  be  made  up  of 
church  members,  and  what  will  be  the  conversation  ? 
Oh,  I  got  so  sick  of  such  parties  that  I  left  years  ago ; 
I  would  not  think  of  spending  a  night  that  way ;  it  is 
a  waste  of  time ;  there  is  hardly  a  chance  to  say  a 
word  for  the  Master.  If  you  talk  of  a  personal  Christ, 
your  company  becomes  offensive ;  they  don't  like  it ; 
they  want  you  to  talk  about  the  world,  about  a  popular 
minister,  a  popular  church,  a  good  organ,  a  good  choir, 
and  they  say,  "Oh,  we  have  a  grand  organ,  and  a  su- 
perb choir,"  and  all  that,  and  it  suits  them;  but  that 
don't  warm  the  Christian  heart.  When  you  speak  of  a 
risen  Christ  and  a  personal  Saviour,  they  don't  like  it ; 
the  fact  is,  the  world  has  come  into  the  church  and  taken 
possession  of  it,  and  what  we  want  to  do  is  to  wake  up 
and  ask  God  to  forgive  us  for  "Grieving  the  Spirit." 

Dear  reader,  search  your  heart  and  inquire,  Have  I 
done  anything  to  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God  ?  If  you  have, 
may  God  show  it  to  you  to-day  ;  if  you  have  done  any 
thing  to  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God,  you  want  to  know  it 
to-day,  and  get  down  on  your  face- before  God  and  ask 
Him  to  forgive  you  and  help  you  to  put  it  away.  I 
have  lived  long  enough  to  know  that  if  I  can  not  have 
the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  on  me  to  help  me  to 
work  for  Him,  I  would  rather  die,  than  live  just  for  the 
sake  of  living.  How  many  are  there  in  the  church 
to-day,  who  have  been  members  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
years,  but  have  never  done  a  solitary  thing  for  Jesus 
8 


114  SECRET  POWER. 


Christ  ?  They  can  not  lay  their  hands  upon  one  solitary 
soul  who  has  been  blessed  through  their  influence ;  they 
can  not  point  to-day  to  one  single  person  who  has  ever 
been  lifted  up  by  them. 

QUENCH  WOT. 

In  1st  Thessalonians,  5th  chapter,  we  are  told  not  to 
Quench  the  Spirit.  Now,  I  am  confident  the  cares  of 
the  world  are  coming  in  and  quenching  the  Spirit  with  a 
great  many.  They  say  :  "I  don't  care  for  the  world  ;" 
perhaps  not  the  pleasures  of  the  world  so  much  after  all 
as  the  cares  of  this  life  ;  but  they  have  just  let  the  cares 
come  in  and  quench  the  Spirit  of  God.  Anything  that 
comes  between  me  and  God — between  my  soul  and  God 
— quenches  the  Spirit.  It  may  be  my  family.  You 
may  say  :  "Is  there  any  danger  of  my  loving  my  family 
too  much  ?"  Not  if  we  love  God  more  ;  but  God  must 
have  the  first  place.  If  I  love  my  family  more  than 
God,  then  I  am  quenching  the  Spirit  of  God  within  me  ; 
if  I  love  wealth,  if  I  love  fame,  if  I  love  honor,  if  I 
love  position,  if  I  love  pleasure,  if  I  love  self,  more 
than  I  love  God  who  created  and  saved  me,  then  I  am 
committing  a  sin  ;  I  am  not  only  grieviqg  the  Spirit  of 
God,  but  quenching  Him,  and  robbing  my  soul  of  His 
power. 

EMBLEMS   OF   THE    SPIRIT. 

But  I  would  further  call  attention  to  the  emblems  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  An  emblem  is  something  that  rep- 
resents an  object ;  the  same  as  a  balance  is  an  emblem 
of  justice,  and  a  crown  an  emblem  of  royalty,  and  a 
scepter  is  an  emblem  of  power ;  so  we  find  in  the  17th 


POWER  HINDERED.  115 

chapter  of  Exodus  and  6th  verse,  that  water  is  an 
emblem  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  You  find  in  the  Smitten 
Rock,  in  the  wilderness,  the  \vork  of  the  Trinity  illus- 
trated. 

"  Behold,  I  will  stand  before  thee  there  upon  the  rock 
in  Horeb ;  and  thou  shall  smite  the  rock,  and  there 
shall  come  water  out  of  it,  that  the  people  may  drink. 
And  Moses  did  so,  in  the  sight  of  the  elders  of  Israel." 

Paul  declares,  in  Corinthians,  that  the  rock  was  Christ ; 
it  represented  Christ.  God  says  :  "I  will  stand  upon 
the  rock,"  and  as  Moses  smote  the  rock  the  water  came 
out,  which  was  an  emblem  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  it 
flowed  out  along  through  the  camp ;  and  they  drank  of 
the  water.  Now  water  is  cleansing;  it  is  fertilizing; 
it  is  refreshing ;  it  is  abundant,  and  it  is  freely  given ; 
and  so  the  Spirit  of  God  is  the  same :  cleansing,  fer- 
tilizing, refreshing,  reviving,  and  He  was  freely  given 
when  the  smitten  Christ  was  glorified.  Then,  too,  fire 
is  an  emblem  of  the  Spirit ;  it  is  purifying,  illuminating, 
searching.  We  talk  about  searching  our  hearts.  We 
can  not  do  it.  What  we  want  is  to  have  God  search 
them.  O  that  God  may  search  us  and  bring  out  the 
hidden  things,  the  secret  things  that  cluster  there 
and  bring  them  to  light.  The  wind  is  another 
emblem.  It  is  independent,  powerful,  sensible  in  its 
effects,  and  reviving  ;  how  the  Spirit  of  God  revives 
when  He  comes  to  all  the  drooping  members  of  the 
Church.  Then  the  rain  and  the  dew — fertilizing,  refresh- 
ing, abundant ;  and  the  dove,  gentle — what  more  gentle 
than  the  dove  ;  and  the  lamb  ? — gentle,  meek,  innocent, 
a  sacrifice.  We  read  of  the  wrath  of  God;  we  read  of 
the  wrath  of  the  Lamb,  but  nowhere  do  we  read  of  the 


116  SECRET  POWER. 


wrath  of  the  Holy  Spirit — gentle,  innocent,  meek,  lov- 
ing; and  that  Spirit  wants  to  take  possession  of  our 
hearts.  And  He  comes  as  a  voice,  another  emblem — 
speaking,  guiding,  warning,  teaching;  and  the  seal — 
impressing,  securing,  and  making  us  as  His  own.  May 
we  know  Him  in  all  His  wealth  of  blessing.  This  is 
my  prayer  for  myself — for  you.  May  we  heed  the  words 
of  the  grand  Apostle:  "My  speech  and  my  preaching 
was  not  with  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit,  and -of  power:  that  your 
faith  should  not  stand  IN  THE  WISDOM  OF  MEN,  BUT  IN  THE 

I'OWEB  OF  GOD." 


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Cloth  flexible,  750.  Cloth,  boards,  $i. 

Future  Punishment.  A  test  case,  by  Rev.  H.  L.  HAMMOND.  An 
admirable  dissection  and  exposure  of  a  plausible  and  popular  delusion ;  • 
good  thing  to  have  scattered  abroad  by  thousands. 

32  pp.  and  cover,  neat,  10  cents. 


May  Christians  Dance  ?    By  JAMES  H.  BROOKES,  D.  D. 

144  pp.,  i6mo,  25  cents:     Cloth,  50  cents. 

The  subject  of  this  small  volume  is  again  creating  considerable  com- 
ment and  controversy  throughout  the  religious  press.  The  author  has 
handled  the  subject  carefully  ajid  deliberately,  but  very  decidedly,  mak- 
ing charges  especially  against  the  contaminating  influences  of  the  round 
dance.  The  book  should  be  largely  circulated. —  The  Watchman. 

How  to  be  Saved,  OR  THE  SINNER  DIRECTED  TO  THE  SAVIOR. 
By  J.  H.  BROOKES,  D.  D. 

1 20  pp.,  paper,  25  cents.     Cloth,  50  cents. 

The  Scientific  and  Religious  Discoveries  in  the  Great  Pyra- 
mid, recently  made  by  Prof.  PIAZZI  SMYTH,  Astronomer  Royal  for  Scot- 
land, and  by  other  noted  scholars.  Compiled  by  WM.  H.  WILSON.  Il- 
lustrated with  several  diagrams. 

64  pp.  sq.,  i6mo,  25  cents.     Cloth,  50  cents. 

To  say  that  the  facts  herein  set  forth  are  wonderful  is  far  below  the 
truth.  Many  are  so  marvelous,  and  the  deductions  from  them  are  so  im- 
portant, that  no  Christian  can  afford  to  pass  them  by.  Many  will  reject 
the  conclusions  of  the  writers.  None  can  resist  the  facts,  and  they  should 
be  known. 

Life  and  Light.  By  an  Evangelist.  A  book  for  anxious  ones  and 
young  converts,  being  outlines  of  a  few  addresses,  and  the  substance  of 
conversations  and  correspondence  with  inquirers,  and  an  exposition  of 
many  difficult  passages. 

Second  edition,  revised  and  enlarged.  124  pp.,  i6mo,  25  cents. 
One  of  the  best  books  we  have  ever  issued. 

Notes  by  C.  H.  M. — GENESIS,  750.;  EXODUS,  750.;  LEVITICUS, 
75c.;  NUMBERS,  75c.;  DEUTERONOMY,  VOL.  i,  750.  The  set  of  five  vol- 
umes sent  postpaid  for  $3.75 . 

The  Notes  on  each  book  are  complete  in  one  volume,  and  are  most 
precious  and  edifying  expositions. 

Mr.  D.  L.  Moody  says  of  these  books  :  "  Some  years  since,  I  had  my 
attention  called  to  C.  H.  M.'s  notes,  and  was  so  much  pleased,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  profited  by  the  way  they  open  up  the  Scripture  truths,  that 
I  secured  at  once  all  the  writings  of  the  same  author,  and,  if  they  could 
not  be  replaced  would  rather  part  with  my  entire  library,  excepting  my 
Bible,  than  with  these  writings.  They  have  been  to  me  a  very  key  to  the 
Scriptures." 

Maj.  D.  W.  Whittle  says  :  "  Under  God  they  have  blessed  me  more 
than  any  books,  outside  of  the  Bible  itself,  that  I  have  ever  read,  and  have 
led  me  to  a  love  of  the  Bible  that  is  proving  an  unfailing  source  of  profit." 

Any  book  in  this  list  sent  post-free  to  any  address  on  receipt  of  price. 

F.  H.  REVELL,  PUBLISHER. 
148  and  150  Madison  Street.  CHICAGO. 


AUTHORIZED  WORKS  BY  D.  L.  MOODY. 

Twelve  Select  Sermons.  Carefully  revised,  and  containing 
those  Gospel  addresses  most  blessed  in  evangelistic  work. 

128  pp.,  cloth,  rich  gilt  stamp,  60  cts.    Paper  edition,  80  cts. 

Heaven — Where  it  is;  Its  Inhabitants,  and  How  to  Get 
There,  by  D.  L.  MOODY. 

Cloth,  rich,  gold  stamp,  112  pp.,  60  cts.    Paper  covers,  30  cts. 

The  clear,  Scriptural,  common-sense  treatment  of  this  subject  by 
Mr.  Moody,  has  been  commended  in  the  hignest  terms  by  leading 
theologians  in  Europe  and  America,  while  the  common  people  have 
heard  them  everywhere  with  gladness. 

Secret  Power,  or  the  Secret  of  Success  in  Christian  Life  and 
Christian  Work.  Contents:  I.  Power;  its  source.  II.  Power,  in 
and  upon.  III.  Witnessing  in  Power.  IV.  Power  in  Operation. 
V.  Power  Hindered.  » 

Cloth,  116  pages,  60  cts.    .Paper  cover,  80  cts. 

How  to  Study  the  Bible.  By  D.  L.  MOODY.  Revised.  A  valu- 
able little  work,  which  should  be  carefully  read  and  studied  by  all 
who  desire  to  enjoy  the  study  of  the  Word. 

Paper  cover,  10  cts.;  paper  cover,  perdoz.,  $1;  Cloth,  flexible, 
15  cts.  each. 

The  Way  nad  the  Word.    By  D.  L.  MOODY. 

Paper,  15  cts.    Cloth,  25  cts. 

This  is  a  neat  little  volume,  containing  a  treatise  on  Mr.  Moody's 
favorite  topic,  Regeneration;  also  his  thoughts  on  Bible  stuiiy;  the 
whole  prefaced  by  a  personal  introduction  by  Mr.  Moody. 

The  Second  Coming  of  Christ.  By  D.  L.  MOODY.  Revised 
from  original  notes. 

32  pages  and  cover.    Price  10  cts. ;  per  dozen,  $1. 

Inquiry  Meetings.  By  Messrs.  MOODY  and  WHITTLE.  Com- 
prising "  How  to  Conduct  Inquiry  Meetings,*'  by  D.  L.  Moody,  and 
"The  Use  of  the  Bible  in  Inquiry  Meetings,"  by.  D.  W.  Whittle. 

40  pages  and  cover.    Price,  15  cts.;  per  dozen  $1  50. 

Gems  from  Northficld,  containing  the  choicest  of  the  good 
things  contributed  at  D.  L.  Moody's  Northfleld  Conference.  Edited 
by  T.  J.  SHANKS 

Dr.  Bonar's  sermons  and  talks  are  those  of  a  master  in  Israel. — 
St.  Louit  Pretbyterian. 

'  We  can  commend  the  book  as  a  record  of  earnest  Christian 
intercourse  and  a  stimulus  to  spiritual  thinking  and  conduct. — 
Congregationalist.  • 

216  pages,  12mo.,  cloth  neat    Price,  $1. 


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